Homecoming king and queen contribute to charity

It has been called a popularity contest, an opportunity for charity and a symbol of the… It has been called a popularity contest, an opportunity for charity and a symbol of the University’s student body — it’s the contest for the Homecoming king and queen.

Five months after Pitt’s Homecoming weekend, this year’s king and queen have taken steps to fulfill their campaign promises where they could, and they largely continued the charity work they began before being crowned.

Homecoming King Jamil Alhassan and Queen Lauren Zammerilla, this year’s king and queen, both said their titles gave them a more influential voice, which has helped them raise money and put on other charitable events.

The Homecoming duo, elected in October, has one requirement beyond helping to crown the next year’s couple — the two must visit Children’s Hospital of UPMC in Lawrenceville. Alhassan said the two have not visited the hospital in Lawrenceville, but they still have seven months to do so.

The two have spent some of their time since the election trying to fulfill promises they made when they were campaigning. The Alumni Association, which helps organize Homecoming, does not have any procedure in place to hold the king and queen to their promises. The system works on an honor basis.

Alhassan, a senior biology major, also serves as chaplain and chapter historian of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity,

As part of his platform, Alhassan pledged to offer free SAT tutoring at an area high school. It was a campaign promise that he said he upheld as best he could.

“We were working at Central Catholic right down the street, helping students prepare for their SAT tests in January,” Alhassan said. He tutored 10 students at the school for a month and a half.

But because of scheduling conflicts and time constraints, the program was only able to run through December, Alhassan said.

Alhassan also volunteered at a Jumpstart Pittsburgh conference. Jumpstart is a national early childhood literacy program that trains and prepares college students to mentor young children.

“The title has allowed me to reach out to more organizations as well as mix with more fraternities and sororities. For example, we [Alpha Phi Alpha] were able to get together with Iota Nu Delta Fraternity Inc., a multicultural fraternity, and do an event on interracial dating,” Alhassan said.

The two fraternities also brought a bone marrow transplantation booth to the interracial dating event. Attendees could learn more about bone marrow donation and register for donation if they wanted.

Another group that Alhassan and his fraternity were able to connect with was Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance through an event designed to create discussion surrounding stereotypes in both the LGBTQ community and Greek life. Alhassan said he was very pleased that an event like this took place.

Zammerilla agreed that becoming queen has given her more of a presence on campus.

As part of her platform, Zammerilla ran with the intention of spreading knowledge of her and her sorority’s work with St. Judes Hospital in Squirrel Hill.

Zammerilla attributes her campaign as well as all her efforts following her victory to the success she has had furthering her work with St. Jude’s.

“I am proud to say that Pitt’s Tri-Delt Chapter has raised over $17,000 this year for St. Jude’s, making us one of the top fundraising chapters in the nation,” Zammerilla said in an e-mail.

This feat was accomplished by numerous fundraising events, as well as Zammerilla’s involvement in other school clubs.

“It has been really refreshing to see everyone unite for such a worthy cause,” Zammerilla said.

The idea behind the election of Homecoming king and queen is to give the students a chance to select peers to represent Pitt, said Elaine Lewis, vice president of traditions for the Blue and Gold Society, which helps administer homecoming.

“The purpose of being elected Homecoming king or queen is to be recognized by your peers as an exemplary member of the undergraduate student body who excels in many facets of University life,” Lewis said.

Maryjean Lovett, manager of student and alumni programs and adviser of the Blue and Gold Society, said that there is a long-standing tradition behind the positions of king and queen. Lovett said that the responsibility of overseeing the homecoming elections used to fall under the Office of Student Affairs.

The process was turned over to the Alumni Association about seven years ago.

“There is always a large emphasis placed on community service, and often times, there will be a lot of work done with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh,” Lovett said.

But she said, “At the end of the day, it is still pretty much a popularity contest.”