The Associated Students of Cerritos College had its Homecoming Court election booths set and ready on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Students on campus visited the voting polls to elect up to seven Homecoming nominees which were elected by their corresponding clubs.
Homecoming is a way that Cerritos College can get the surrounding community involved and to promote various clubs that operate throughout the school.
From iFalcon to Order of the Falcon, many women went out and campaigned to get students to vote for them to be on the Homecoming Court.
Business administration major Michelle Mancilla represents the iFalcon club. Mancilla is the vice president of the club and has much support in her campaign including the 2011 homecoming queen, Raquel Ramirez.
Mancilla said that the goals of the club are to help students be organized scholars using various workshops including nutrition workshops and time management workshops. The club also fundraises for scholarships for the students who apply.
“The purpose I see for homecoming is to represent; as an iFalcon club, member I can promote my club and try to get more student involvement,” Mancilla said.
The election is a form of club endorsement to rally support for the various clubs and present the student body with a face for each club.
The candidates are running for court which means they are not necessarily running for queen at the moment, but once in the court, the election for queen will commence.
Animal and political science major Aldemar Sanchez is an assistant to the Dana Ramos campaign. Sanchez and Ramos are part of the Order of the Falcon club, also known as the Harry Potter Club.
The Order of the Falcon has only been in motion for one semester and is a fairly new club. Sanchez wishes to expand the knowledge of the club by supporting Ramos in her campaign to either Homecoming top seven in the court or Homecoming Queen.
“She (Ramos) is the commissioner of night time activities, so she is in charge of hosting events at night,” Sanchez said. “This will give us a greater foot in the door to host more events because she will be queen.” Ramos is ambitious to become queen in order to have more of a voice for certain events the school may hold.
Campaigning has involved a lot of time and effort for each party.
Sanchez believes the campaign had a slow start due to a misunderstanding of certain rules and to make matters worse, the cold weather made public campaigning somewhat difficult.
Dynamic Dance Club representative Jasmine Paiz (sociology major) wants to promote her club.
“Being queen, I’ll be able to represent the club more and get it known,” Paiz said. “I tell people that I am a club member so that people join it.”
Veteran of pasts homecomings, economics major Raquel Ramirez said the objective of homecoming is to involve the surrounding community in activities such as the homecoming game, the float competition, and possible judges of the candidates.
Ramirez also stated that being elected Homecoming Queen is also a way to help win club of the year at the end of the year.
“You’re kind of like a walking build board for the club,” Ramirez said. “You represent your club.”
Homecoming is basically a celebration for the alumni, Ramirez said. That is why there are so many activities involved with the concept.
After homecoming princesses, or court, have been elected, the selection of a queen will be the next step for the seven candidates.
