This past weekend was an exciting time on campus for RMU students. Friday featured homecoming, and Saturday included the football game, where the winners of homecoming royalty were announced. For the first time ever in Robert Morris’ history, there was a tie between the homecoming queens.
JaQuay Blair was one of two homecoming queens. She is a senior in the accelerated program, working toward a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in sports management, and holds a certificate in sales. She will also complete her MBA with a certificate in project management. JaQuay is set to graduate in December of 2025.
Back in JaQuay’s freshman year, her major was undecided. When she finally chose marketing due to its business and creative aspects, she also added her minor and certificates. At first, she decided to come to RMU because of the amount of scholarships she received and the reasonable tuition. As she started her education, the supportive and helpful faculty drew her in, and she soon realized that this campus was what suited her best. RMU campus is small and intimate, giving students the opportunity to engage with others and their professors on a deeper level.
Since it is JaQuay’s last semester, she is involved in the AKA Sorority (Alpha Kappa Alpha) as the president of their chapter, the Model UN organization, and she works for the Student Success Center, which is now Solution Central. Although she’s been in many organizations and leadership positions since her freshman year, she’s keeping her focus on these positions.
Throughout JaQuay’s education at RMU, she feels as if the professors have prepared her in many ways like giving her new opportunities to network. She has had three internships and they all got started by connections. One came from a professor, one is involved with the school, and another one is from the career fair on campus. “They give us, at least business students, lots and lots of resources to go and use,” JaQuay mentioned.
Earlier in her career, JaQuay set herself some personal goals. Two goals she accomplished was to keep her GPA above a 3.0 and to make it through college. As a freshman student, it can be scary going to a new school in a new area, and it can be difficult to maintain a good GPA. JaQuay didn’t know what to expect from college when she got here, but now she is in the 4 + 1 program and graduating early.
JaQuay has always been a big supporter of her friends, teammates, and classmates. She made sure to show up to games for her peers to show them that there are people who care about them. “If there’s a freshman who has a question, or they’re struggling with something, just help them out because I was once in their shoes, so I know how scary it can be in college,” JaQuay went on. Some advice she would give to any incoming freshman would be to network. It is very important because there is a chance students will not be able to find a job or internships if they don’t put themselves out there and connect with new people.
JaQuay said she would absolutely run for homecoming queen again if she could. She was very excited to get the process started. When thinking of her campaign strategy, being a marketing major played a huge part. She had a lot of fun posting, coming up with slogans and themes, and creating online flyers. JaQuay had a poster for her homecoming campaign marketing, and she also had “Blair Bucks”. Blair Bucks were used as small flyers; they looked like a paper money bill with her face and brand on it. This helped gain more students’ attention. She said, “Whether I win or lose, it was fun.” She would do it again immediately if she could.
When John Locke was announcing homecoming royalty at the football game, he started off with “For the first time ever in RMU history…” Jaquay was thrown off guard at first, but then soon realized that she would be sharing her crown. Madison Craycraft was the second queen, who is in Delta Zeta, a sorority that is cousins with AKA. JaQuay felt so excited to be able to share the moment and the spotlight.
The tie for homecoming queen could have concluded in some kind of division, but not in this case. It became an emotional moment that challenged old traditions. This was a chilling experience that was new for all students and staff to see.
