King's, Queen's royal view on homecoming

Now that homecoming week is over, Winston-Salem State's king and queen have some time to reflect and relax - or so we think.

With less than two months until the end of the semester and homecoming behind them, Mister and Miss WSSU, Keenan Easter and Vanity Oakes, still have a full agenda.

Before their official debut and crowning at coronation during homecoming week, the queen said everyone was anxious for the big night.

"I think tensions were high as if we were getting married. With us and our court [Royal Court], we just wanted everything to be right," Oakes said.

"We enjoyed coronation and we loved everything about it. There were some mishaps but we all had a good time."

Easter said that he enjoyed seeing everything come together and wasn't nervous on his crowning night.

"When I came out, everyone was so crazy," he said.

Oakes, a Red Team cheerleader and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. also said that ultimately, coronation was a surprise.

Orlando Mitchell, Royal Court adviser and director of Greek Life, coordinated the whole night, according to Oakes.

"We kind of give Mr. Mitchell an idea of what we would like, but after that point, we don't know any other details," she said.

"The biggest surprise was at the royal ball. There was a jazz band on top. I didn't even know they were there until Mitchell told us," Easter said.

This year's theme for coronation and the royal ball was "An International Royal Affair."

When asked about school pride during homecoming,both Royal Court members said students could do better.

"I feel like students don't get excited until they see something happening. The excitement for their school should be something natural. They should exude pride. Unfortunately, a lot of students don't have that and I don't know why, " Oakes said.

"They [students] were talking about A&T's and other school's homecomings. What they need to do is focus on their university," Easter said.

With homecoming and midterm exams falling on the same week, Oakes said it was hectic.

"It [homecoming week] was all a blur, honestly. We didn't sleep much. It was midterms, of course, and we had several responsibilities that we had on our plate," she said.

Mr. WSSU, who is a residence adviser for Martin Schexnider Hall, said because of midterms, the Red and Black Affair was the only event he could attend, other than coronation.

Outside of homecoming, Easter said his daily schedule is usually filled with classes, meetings, allotted time for homework and RA duty.

"It's crazy; it's just back-to-back," he said.

Miss WSSU said she typically has early-morning cheerleading practice, classes, meetings and programs with the AKAs.

On top of an already busy itinerary, Oakes and Easter said some events they must attend are brought to their attention at the last minute.

Aside from the glitz and glam of being the University's royalty, the king and queen said there are misconceptions about their roles.

"We are regular students, like the rest of the student body but with big titles. We do not get paid for this position. The only thing we get is free housing," Easter said.

Oakes also said, "A common misconception about my role is that I am a pageant girl and women empowerment guru." As queen, she said her position requires her to serve as an ambassador and face for SGA and the University.

Despite these assumptions, Mr. WSSU said he is grateful for his position on Royal Court.

Both of these Winston-Salem natives know that being the king and queen of the University is more than mastering a smile and a royal wave for pageants and events.

Collectively, the royal duo is working to build relationships with homecoming kings and queens within Forsyth County public schools.

"We want to create a mentorship with these kings and queens. We would like to mentor them ourselves, but also find students here at the University who are on the track that these students hope to be in once they attend a college or university, " she said.

Oakes said that if monetary support allows, both she and Easter would like to host a scholarship pageant for the high school kings and queens.

Their philanthropic work does not stop with other royalty.

Miss WSSU said she also plans on having a Thanksgiving dinner and activity day for impoverished elementary students; a school-supply drive and a meeting with all women-centered organizations.

The king, a Carver High School graduate, said he wants to return and mentor young Black males and promote post-secondary education.

"I want to help them and steer them to a better path," he said.

"Our main goals is to have a face in the community," Oakes said.

"It's very important since we are both from Winston-Salem. We want to make sure students are aware of the University and make sure that they know they can go to college no matter what their situation is."