Homecoming is a time of celebration and tradition. This past Saturday at The University of Mississippi, however, it became a time for the past to combine with the present and form a new tradition.
For the second time in the university’s history, all former Ole Miss homecoming queens were invited back to Oxford to be recognized at the game along with the 2013 homecoming queen, Megan McBeth. They were presented on the field at halftime and awarded sashes and a keepsake at the reunion event held by the Ole Miss Alumni Association.
Margaret Pryor Barker, queen in 1989, attended the reunion along with a few of her family members.
“It means even more when you have your family here,” Barker said. “You get to share with them this special moment.”
The first event occurred in 2010 as an idea from Annabeth Freeman Wyatt, homecoming queen of 2000, to serve as a reunion for former queens and a way to meet other women who shared this special and unique experience. With Wyatt’s idea and the help of Scott Thompson, assistant director of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, the event was created and attended by 36 of the 58 former queens in 2010. With such a great turn out, the event was held again this past Saturday and, according to Thompson, will hopefully be held again every 5 years.
Until this event, when these women walked off the field they were never recognized again.
“It’s very important to the university to reach out to these women and let them know how special they were and that they still are,” Thompson said.
With only 58 women ever holding the title, former queens have a unique experience that only a small number of people will ever share.
Nostalgia was definitely in the air, especially at the reunion event held at The Inn at Ole Miss. With stories told of funny campaign slogans and cheerleaders being a little more than fashionably late to an away game at Tennessee and missing the announcement of homecoming queen, memories made at Ole Miss were brought back to life.
McBeth attended the event at The Inn at Ole Miss and called it a “good tradition because, what better way to keep in contact?”
McBeth had the opportunity to meet former queens and listen to their stories about their times at the university.
“I’m so lucky this event happened the year I am queen,” she said.
What many people love about Ole Miss is the emphasis on its many traditions. With this event, Wyatt hopes they have started a new one.
