MTSU’s Homecoming court revved up for a week of campaigning and exciting Boro Bound road trip-themed events.
Candidates promoted themselves and connected with students across campus during the last two weeks. Those running showcased themselves and the work they put into their community through tabling in the Student Union, sharing social media posts and more. This year’s candidate pool included four candidates for king and 11 for queen.
Maryangel Tobaldo
“I really liked campaigning,” Maryangel Tobaldo, a senior apparel design major with a minor in entrepreneurship, said. “Every time homecoming comes around in the fall … I really like the school spirit and bringing the community together.”
Her campaign, “Maryangel’s Race for the Crown,” was a playful video game-themed campaign promoted with social media posts from students
endorsing her.
Many students recognized her from her service in Delta Sigma Theta Inc. and Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity Inc., Tobaldo said.
She combined her love for apparel, design and service by passing out pocket sewing kits to students. Tobaldo also used her creativity to host events for students as a member of the Housing & Residential Life.
If she wins, Tobaldo said she hopes to continue bringing people together to build a community and do more service-based events for people on campus.
She partnered with another candidate during her campaign — Tristan Parr, a junior sports media major.
Tristan Parr
Parr branded himself with an eye-catching Burger King-themed campaign. He gave out Burger King gift cards at tabling events and made an effort to meet with students.
Parr watched his fellow Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity member, Kevarrious Wright, win homecoming king in 2024 and hopes to have it his way in 2025.
“Since I’m a part of the chapter, I wanted to kinda continue that tradition,” Parr said, “Also, us being here at this predominantly white institution, you don’t really see too many people that look like me doing it, so it’s a great opportunity.”
Parr credited his support to the relationships he’s built through community service. He loves to be involved and give back to the community, whether through working around campus or in local churches.
He hoped to encourage the rest of the student body to be more involved in service with his True Blue spirit and love for helping others.
Liv Kilpatrick
Liv Kilpatrick, a senior criminal justice major and member of the Chi Omega sorority, is another candidate who emphasized the importance of service.
Kilpatrick has been true blue through and through from a young age. She went to the campus preschool and grew up coming to homecoming games while her mom attended MTSU as a non-traditional student. As a result, running for queen came naturally to her, Kilapatrick said.
Her campaign slogan, “Live the true Blue Dream, vote Liv K for queen,” embodied her story. She translated her experience to other students by helping them find their dream on campus.
“My whole philosophy and what I’ve seen to be true for myself is you’re more likely to stay in college if you feel like you have a community,” Kilpatrick said.
Kilpatrick found ways to use her experience working at Spare to get students connected with opportunities during her tabling events. She said her office in the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership was open to students if they ever needed her for anything.
Hannah Colson
Hannah Colson, a senior animation major with a minor in theatre, also bleeds blue. She is a Blue Elite tour guide and a student orientation assistant. She found her place at MTSU and wants to share that with others.
“I wanted to be that person people could recognize and know,” Colson said. “I wanna get to know the students so that they can feel comfortable enough to come up and talk to me, so I can be able to help them find their place here like I did.”
When she’s not giving tours or working on animations, Colson can be found with the sisters of Alpha Delta Pi, whom she leaned on for support during tabling events while she campaigned around campus.
Colson left students with a small drawing of themselves as a keepsake as she campaigned. Her goal was to encourage more campus involvement so everyone can find their space.
Patrick Crabtree
Patrick Crabtree is another candidate who is heavily involved on campus. He is a non-traditional student in his senior year and is working on his second bachelor’s degree in Information Systems in Aerospace. He is also a senator in the Student Government Association.
Although it’s been about 30 years since he was first in school, Crabtree wanted to try something new and thought running for homecoming king sounded like a fun idea.
“It’d be neat to just be on the court because like the branches of government, you got the legislative, executive, and judicial,” Crabtree said. “So if I’m with SGA as a senator, then that’s legislative, but if I get onto the homecoming court, that’s executive. So now I gotta find a new club that does some judicial work.”
He decided to run for the experience, but his pursuit of different student government roles stems from his call to service.
“Right now, I’m a student,” Crabtree said. “I’m trying to be a more experienced student where I can not only help myself, but also help mentor other students if they need mentoring and provide services they might need.”
Hattie Hedrick
Unlike some candidates who may have dreamt of running for homecoming, Hattie Hedrick — a junior sports media major — did not anticipate her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, nominating her.
She was ready for the opportunity, nonetheless.
As a Zeta, philanthropy is essential, so she based her campaign around breast cancer education and awareness. She used her campaign to inform and spread awareness on a cause meaningful to her.
By connecting with students through tabling events, Hedrick advocated for the person she is and the cause she stands for.
“I want them to see me as an authentic person,” Hendrick said. “I don’t want them to see me as a sorority girl just wanting to run for queen. I genuinely want to help out in the community, I want to get involved, I want to set an example.”
She hoped that, if elected, she could provide service opportunities for the campus and encourage involvement by advocating for equality and reassuring that MTSU is a place where students can be themself.
Regan Murphy
Similar to Hedrick, Regan Murphy, a junior Interactive media major with a minor in sports media, didn’t expect to be nominated by her sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi. However, since she likes to keep busy, she was more than ready to take on the role.
In the spirit of homecoming’s road trip theme, her campaign slogan was “All Roads Lead to Murphy.” The play on her name not only referenced MTSU’s Murphy Center, but also her story as someone who grew up in Murfreesboro.
“We have so many things that we offer,” Murphy said. “So being able to really put that out there and tell people, ‘You have a spot here, MTSU can be your home. ”
She utilized social media to share opportunities with others and hosted tabling events to encourage student involvement.
Her goal was to promote school spirit and make people feel welcome. Service is an essential part of who she is, Murphy said, so her campaign was centered around leaving a lasting impression.
Price Estes
President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Price Estes, is a senior concrete management major.
Running for homecoming has kept him busy, but it’s all worth it, according to Estes.
“My goal as President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is to spread the morals of our fraternity and that’s being a true gentleman,“ Estes said. “I believe in upholding myself to a high standard, showing people you’re a good person, doing the right thing is a big thing, and what you say you’re gonna do — just do it.”
His campaign strove to show that Greek life can offer success from the connections students make and the opportunities they can experience. He encouraged campus involvement with the hope of bridging the gap between Greek Life and those outside of it.
For Estes, the fight doesn’t stop even if he wins, because he wants to leave an impact on the community.
Conner Peek is also running for Homecoming King. Sidelines reached out, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
The homecoming king and queen will be announced at the MTSU versus Marshall football game on Sept. 20. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Floyd Stadium.
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