San Diego State University will hold its 91st annual Homecoming Week on Oct. 21-26. 

Each year, the homecoming committee nominates 10 students to serve as royal members of the homecoming court. Nominees are selected based on their on-campus leadership and achievements. 

Each member must represent an on-campus organization during their run and submit an application with a written portion of these achievements. 

The 2024 homecoming court was announced on Sept. 19 at the Aztec Student Union. Among the nominees were Kelli Allen, Nicholas Felix, Madeleine Eff, Michael Manangan, Jade Mahaney, Zachary Willmore, Ingrid Yu, Fa’aea Tumanuvao and Ambra Constanza. Monique Washington was included in the initial court, but chose to step down. In her place, the homecoming committee nominated Domenica Cianca. 

The homecoming court will not be decided by student votes, but rather facilitated by a panel of alumni, representatives from Associated Students, staff and faculty and Student Affairs and Campus Diversity leadership. 

Members of the court go through a rigorous evaluations process, which includes a panel interview, where they will present their ideas for an SDSU community event for the spring semester. The panel evaluates these interviews to crown two royals, which will be announced during halftime at the Oct. 26 homecoming football game. 

During Homecoming Week, court members participate in different events, including volunteering at the Aztec Unity Project, a two-day service learning event, and a homecoming court dinner.  

Zachary Willmore, a third-year marketing student,  said he is excited to run for homecoming royalty after winning homecoming queen at his high school in Missouri. He described his first time running in high school as a “bonding experience” for those involved and wanted to repeat that. 

Willmore said that he wrote his achievements essay based on what he had done through social media, as he has more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok.

He is also an advocate for HIV patients.

“I helped with de-stigmatizing HIV, which would benefit students who happen to get it on campus…,” Willmore said. “I feel like the biggest killer regarding HIV is not the virus itself, but the lack of education. So many people think that it is an illness that will kill you, and they don’t understand that there is treatment for it.”

Willmore uses his platform to share his own experience after being diagnosed with HIV last year. He explained that winning means more than getting a crown on his head. 

“[It is] about the pride to represent my community, the pride to show other people like me that it is possible to be not only a part of a community but liked in the community, which for a lot of gay people, especially from the midwest or southern areas, unfortunately, they don’t think it’s a possibility,” Willmore said.

Kelli Allen, a fourth-year communication student, is the vice president of selection and training for the SDSU Ambassadors, which she has been a part of since her first year. Allen also holds leadership roles in her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, the Sirens of State Acapella group and the Out-of-State Student Association.

“Being nominated for homecoming court really meant a lot to me,” Allen said. “It just was really special. I put my heart and soul into SDSU, and so it just felt so nice to be within Homecoming and to keep representing SDSU in the best way.”

Nicholas Felix, a third-year criminal justice major, is on the board of directors for Associated Students, a part of the recruitment team for Dance Marathon, the community service executive for the Criminal Justice Student Association, the director of membership development for Tijuana Homebuild and the vice president of philanthropy for the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He chose to represent the A.S. on the court.

For Felix, life wasn’t always about leadership positions. He explained that he struggled to get involved when he first started, but understood that everyone walks their own path

“I kinda found my way here,” Felix said. “And now I’m doing all this…I have a disability. I have very poor vision…I feel like it’s a community that isn’t always represented, so for me, I was trying to bring that diversity into the court.”

The winning homecoming court nominees will be crowned at the homecoming football game on Oct. 26. For more information about SDSU’s Homecoming Week, you can visit the homecoming website.