Court Candidates Prepare for Homecoming

As we welcome back alumni, Homecoming will be filled with carnival rides, food trucks and competitive spirit as the Pioneers face Saint Anselm on the football field.

Expectations are high for the Pioneers to continue their undefeated streak this Saturday, Oct. 13.

One of the most anticipated traditions of the day is the crowning of homecoming king and queen. Olivia Kavanaugh, a senior art education major, is one of the candidates running for queen. Past homecoming games, Kavanaugh was on duty as a resident assistant, but this year she was chosen to be part of the court.

“To prepare for homecoming, I am working to campaign to the best of my ability,” Kavanaugh said. “From what I gather, homecoming is an event that everyone looks forward to and gets really hyped for.” Other candidates for queen include Angelique D’Alessandro and Samantha Samant.

Matt Goldstein, senior criminal justice major, is running for homecoming king. He wants to be known as the “last king of Post,” referring to the merging of LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn. “If I were to be [homecoming] king of Post, it would be a big deal because I’ll always be remembered as the last one,” he said, “Next year there will be no LIU Post, no more Pioneers.”

Goldstein is the vice president of the Be the Change club and considers himself one of the biggest fans of the Pioneers athletic teams. “I chose to run because I have a lot of school spirit, and I have a lot of passion for the sports teams here,” he said.

His competitor Joseph Migliara, senior digital game design major, is running to uphold a legacy for the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. “My fraternity brothers in past years have won four times in a row, and I want to keep that going,” he said.

Migliara gathered support from his friends across majors, clubs and organizations of campus.

“Homecoming means to me a very special time where students can forget about classwork or anything that’s troubling them and just have fun and watch football and enjoy the rides.”

The homecoming game will begin at 1 p.m. on Oct. 13, with the king and queen to be announced during halftime.

The crowning of the court isn’t the only thing to look forward to. Members of the cheer team have been preparing for their performance at the big game.

“Homecoming is a fun responsibility on our part, we get to hype up the largest crowd of the season,” Jahdai Hernandez, a sophomore forensic science major and member of the cheerleading team, said. The cheerleaders have spent the weeks leading up to homecoming practicing and perfecting their halftime routine. “It’s one of the few events where you see the entire school come together and get involved in showing their school spirit,” she said.

There will also be a carnival on campus this year during the game that will include games, rides and challenges run by campus faculty members.