Homecoming king, queen will represent University

As time winds down in the first half of the homecoming game against Michigan State, two seniors will stand on the sidelines with butterflies in their bellies. After a few moments, they will walk onto the field and be presented to students and alumni as IU's 2006 homecoming king and queen.\nThe winners of this year's homecoming court were set to be announced Friday during the pep rally, in which the winners received their crowns. Names of the winners were not available as of press time.\nLast year's homecoming king and queen were Kirk Walda and Jessica E. Borchert. Borchert said she is attending the pep rally and will ceremoniously crown the new queen.\nBesides the memory of being presented in the center of Memorial Stadium, both the king and queen will receive $1,000 scholarships.\nThere are guidelines for who can enter the contest. Student Athletic Board President Ryan Nietert said candidates for the homecoming court must be undergraduate seniors, have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher and be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours. \n"Good candidates are students who are involved in a lot of academics, students who volunteer and students that help out in the community," he said. "They do much more than just study." \nThis year, there were 35 applicants, which were then cut down to five male and five female candidates once their applications were anonymously scored by five judges, made up of IU faculty and administrators. Next were personal interviews, during which the candidates presented their best cases to the judges of why they should be king or queen. Nietert said he believes the judges had their work cut out for them.\n"Looking over the applications, it's going to be a tough decision for the judges. A lot of the applicants are worthy of distinction," he said.\nBeing crowned homecoming king and queen means much more than just receiving a title; it means being a representative for the entire campus, said Chris Gatchel, Student Athletic Board member and co-director of homecoming, football and Parents' Weekend events.\n"Homecoming king and queen is not different than a job interview," Gatchel said. "These people are interviewing for the privilege of representing IU"