GMU's new homecoming queen is a man, baby!

[bjornolf]

George Mason's new homecoming queen...is a man. Personally, I think it's great!

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/02/20/ap6078460.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022001708.html

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/02/20/PH2009022002793.jpg

Discuss...

[CathyCA]

Cool! Congrats to Reann and kudos to the GMU student body.

[snowdenscold]

Uhhh.... I guess count me as not excited? I think this whole thing seems kind of silly...

[allenmurray]

Uhhh.... I guess count me as not excited? I think this whole thing seems kind of silly...

A university having a homecoming queen at all (irrespective of gender or sexual orientation) strikes me as silly.

[snowdenscold]

A university having a homecoming queen at all (irrespective of gender or sexual orientation) strikes me as silly.

Fair enough - but then I think you should just get rid of the tradition rather than make a mockery of it.

[allenmurray]

Fair enough - but then I think you should just get rid of the tradition rather than make a mockery of it.

I agree. Neither the tradition or the mocking of it make any sense to me.

[captmojo]

He looks like he would want to feed the world and save children.

[hc5duke]

A university having a homecoming queen at all (irrespective of gender or sexual orientation) strikes me as silly.

the most surprising part of this story for me was that colleges actually have homecoming queens

[devildeac]

Take a walk on the wild side...

[pamtar]

The most surprising part of this story to me is the name of the place the dude is from.

[brianl]

I read this article in my local paper. My daughter is a high school junior and I'm thankful for GMU for getting this publicity out. I can now strike them from our list of official visits as they are now off the list.

This is much more than some guy dressing up in a joking manner. The old fashioned "womanless beauty contests," with the outrageous enhanced features in an effort to get a laugh. This guy actually walks around like this.

I'm sure there were many in the Patriot Center that night who were a little upset that their University gets to put on this face, and in front of a visiting Northeastern crowd.

Geez!

[bjornolf]

I don't think he actually walks around like that. In fact, in a radio interview last night, he specifically said that he does NOT walk around like that, or go to class dress liked that. He does a show at a few clubs in Northern Virginia (think "Birdcage"). I thought it took a lot of guts for him to enter, and I don't have a problem with it. From a purely adolescent perspective, if I were 16 again and considering colleges, the main thing that would have worried me about this was that the female "talent" at GMU was lacking enough for this guy to win homecoming queen. :eek: ;)

That seems like a pretty small thing to cause you to cross them off your list for even getting a visit.

[brianl]

They weren't too far up the list anyway.


Northern Virginia Strike 1
More than 2 hours away from home Strike 2
Guy dressing in drag openly accepted by administration Strike 3

[pfrduke]

They weren't too far up the list anyway.


Northern Virginia Strike 1
More than 2 hours away from home Strike 2
Guy dressing in drag openly accepted by administration Strike 3

And what, pray tell, should the proper response have been by the administration to a student who dresses in drag?

(uh oh, did I just make this a PPB thread?)

[TillyGalore]

And what, pray tell, should the proper response have been by the administration to a student who dresses in drag?

(uh oh, did I just make this a PPB thread?)

Didn't the student body vote for him? If so, then what do you do, give the entire student body an infraction?

I have to agree with allenmurray, this whole thing of a college homecoming queen is pretty ridiculous. Perhaps that should be a reason you and your daughter should cross JMU off the list.

[snowdenscold]

More than 2 hours away from home is a strike? Less than 2 hours was a strike for me... 3.5 was the perfect amount, IMO.

[TillyGalore]

More than 2 hours away from home is a strike? Less than 2 hours was a strike for me...

I was sent away to college (read 10 hour car ride, thus had to fly home). Best thing that could have happened to me. I learned how to handle tough things in life without running home, and became pretty independent in the process too. That really prepared me for some of the things I had to face not too long after entering college.

I thank my parents all the time for sending me away to school.

[DukieInKansas]

Distance to college is an interesting thing. I went about 1200 miles and people thought that was far. Considering my siblings were 12,000 miles from home for most of their college years, 1200 was close. :D

I have mixed feelings on the subject but, like others have mentioned, was more surprised that had a homecoming queen at all.

[bjornolf]

Um, Tilly, it's George Mason. That's GMU. JMU is James Madison. Totally different schools. Totally different presidents! ;)

And yes, the student body voted for him. He's a senior who's a MAJOR star in the drama department. He was already something of a celebrity on campus, kind of like one of our basketball players. Everybody knows him and loves him. One of his "opponents" in the voting said that she voted for him, as did all of her friends, cause they all love him so much.

One of my buds, who happens to be gay himself and a GMU alum, laughed when I told him about this. He said "Hey, the guy's already a queen. They just had to add the homecoming!"

[snowdenscold]

I was sent away to college (read 10 hour car ride, thus had to fly home). Best thing that could have happened to me. I learned how to handle tough things in life without running home, and became pretty independent in the process too. That really prepared me for some of the things I had to face not too long after entering college.

I thank my parents all the time for sending me away to school.

I liked 3.5 because it was far enough away where I was pretty much by myself and my parents didn't drop in on me except when planned out on parent's weekend. But it was close enough that I didn't ever have to pay for plane flights and could load up my car w/ everything. Plus I-85 in VA is a peaceful drive. It was especially nice for having the flexibility to get back and forth over breaks for and coming down on whims for weekends during the summers and the year or two after I graduated to visit people.

I apologize for that last sentence.

[DevilAlumna]

I liked 3.5 because it was far enough away where I was pretty much by myself and my parents didn't drop in on me except when planned out on parent's weekend. But it was close enough that I didn't ever have to pay for plane flights and could load up my car w/ everything. Plus I-85 in VA is a peaceful drive. It was especially nice for having the flexibility to get back and forth over breaks for and coming down on whims for weekends during the summers and the year or two after I graduated to visit people.

Yeah, I was in the same situation - DC was a nice distance from Duke. But then, when I moved down to Durham, my parents moved to Korea! :eek:

(They did leave a forwarding address, whew! :o :D)


Sounds like BrianL ought to be looking at Liberty College or Bob Jones U. :rolleyes:

[snowdenscold]

Yeah, I was in the same situation - DC was a nice distance from Duke. But then, when I moved down to Durham, my parents moved to Korea! :eek:

(They did leave a forwarding address, whew! :D)


Sounds like BrianL ought to be looking at Liberty College or Bob Jones U.
I used to make fun of Liberty but I actually now have some good friends and very nice people who went to Liberty :rolleyes:

(I had to edit some of your smilies because I apparently hit a DBR limit :eek:)

[brianl]

Didn't the student body vote for him? If so, then what do you do, give the entire student body an infraction?

I have to agree with allenmurray, this whole thing of a college homecoming queen is pretty ridiculous. Perhaps that should be a reason you and your daughter should cross JMU off the list.

How ironic, my oldest daughter applied to JMU and JMU only. Spent one year there and absolutely hated it.

She's now transferred to Longwood University (where by the way, former Football Offensive Lineman Troy Austin is AD) and loves it. Smaller class sizes and some of the advantages that small colleges offer.

[brianl]

A response on the Liberty comment.

I don't know if anyone saw that they are planning on lowering their tuition to assist their current students as well as those looking to apply.

Liberty has gained a lot of notice in recent years. Now they have Seth Curry playing ball for them too.

[TillyGalore]

Um, Tilly, it's George Mason. That's GMU. JMU is James Madison. Totally different schools. Totally different presidents!

Whoops-a-daisy. I was thinking George Mason and when I typed in JMU.


Yeah, I was in the same situation - DC was a nice distance from Duke. But then, when I moved down to Durham, my parents moved to Korea!

(They did leave a forwarding address, whew! )


Sounds like BrianL ought to be looking at Liberty College or Bob Jones U.

My parents moved to Japan the summer before my senior year of college. They were only supposed to be gone for three years, but that turned into 12 with assignments to various points in Europe. I took advantage of all their travels by traveling to see them. :D:D


A response on the Liberty comment.

I don't know if anyone saw that they are planning on lowering their tuition to assist their current students as well as those looking to apply.

Liberty has gained a lot of notice in recent years. Now they have Seth Curry playing ball for them too.

My mouth is on the floor. Good for Liberty lowering their tuition so their current students can stay.

[GrayHare]

MIT's first Homecoming Queen in 1979 was Leo Harten, a physics graduate student if I recall correctly, and two-time winner of the Ugliest Man on Campus Competition (an annual event to raise money for local charities). Here's a picture of Leo (http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1979/remember.htm) from those days.