Maggie Jo Pruitt, a senior in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, was crowned Homecoming Queen 2013 during halftime festivities on Saturday, Oct. 12. Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow sponsored Pruitt, a senior from Bergman, Ark., majoring in agricultural education, communication and technology. Joseph Holloway, a senior journalism major nominated by Beta Upsilon Chi Fraternity, escorted Pruitt.

In addition to Pruitt and Holloway, this year's Homecoming Court included the following students:

• Kaprisha Fields – The National Society of Black Engineers nominated this senior advertising/public relations major. Cameron Woods, a political science/journalism major nominated by National Pan-Hellenic Council, escorted her.
• Elaina Blando – Panhellenic Council nominated this senior psychology major. Will Simpson, a senior economics and finance major nominated by Alpha Delta Pi, escorted her.
• Holly Hilliard – Pi Beta Phi nominated this senior industrial engineering major. Stewart Tice, a senior criminal justice major nominated by Army ROTC, escorted her.
• Autumn Lewis – Associated Student Government and Young Democrats nominated this senior political science/economics major. Austin Cole, a senior biology major nominated by Lambda Chi Fraternity, escorted her.

To elect the homecoming queen, students cast a total of 3,758 votes for five finalists. For the first time ever, ASG selected the five men in the Homecoming Court through an application and interview process similar to the one used to identify the five finalists for queen.

In her application for Homecoming Court, Pruitt spoke of her pride in being a Razorback: “If I could cite one word for what the University of Arkansas means to me, it would be ‘Believe.’ I am a proud member of the Razorback student body, and I am the person I am today because the University of Arkansas believed in me. As a junior in high school, my first university tour not only marked my first steps on this campus but the first feelings of empowerment and liberation because, for the first time, I felt believed in. The University of Arkansas has taught me to believe in myself and in others because it first believed in me and expressed this through things like scholarship, academic opportunity, and encouragement from my professors. The feeling of being believed in cannot be matched; it must be invested in — more specifically, returned. Therefore, I believe in the YOU of A because I’ve experienced being ‘you.’”

Pruitt serves on the Bumpers College Honors Student Board as director of lectures. She is also a Bumpers College Student Ambassador and a member of Agriculture Future of America, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, Kappa Kappa Gamma and College Republicans.

Associated Student Government sponsors the Homecoming Court.