A week of Homecoming activities at West Virginia University culminated today (Oct. 5) with the crowning of Thaiddeus Dillie and Teresa Hoang as the 2019 king and queen.
The announcement was made during the half-time ceremony at Saturday’s Homecoming football game against Texas.
Selected by their peers during two days of voting, Hoang and Dillie were surrounded by members of the Homecoming Court, the Mountaineer Marching Band along with the Alumni Marching Band, and tens of thousands of cheering fans, including alumni, attending the “Stripe the Stadium” game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Hoang, a member of the Honors College from Hurricane, is a senior computer science major with an emphasis in cybersecurity minoring in mathematics. She serves as a student ambassador and teaching assistant for Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and teaching assistant for the Department of Mathematics. Hoang is also an active member of the Student Government Association, Society of Women Engineers and Mountain Honorary. She is sponsored by the Chi Omega Sorority.
Dillie, a member of the Honors College from Weirton, is a senior biochemistry major. He serves as the alternate Mountaineer Mascot, a mentor for the WVU Honors College, a Student Life Ambassador and a Student Government Association senator for the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design. Dillie also serves as the vice president of the Global Business Brigades, a member of the WVU Figure Skating Club and a former member of the Global Medical and Dental Brigades. He is sponsored by the WVU Honors College.
Other queen candidates were: Emyle Johnston, a senior marketing major from Weston; Peyton Keener, a member of the Honors College and senior accounting and political science major from Charleston; Meredith Phillips, a member of the Honors College and senior biomedical engineering major from Hurricane; and Rachel Rogers, a member of the Honors College and senior majoring in journalism from Grafton.
The other king candidate were: Owen Gray , a member of the Honors College and senior criminology and philosophy major from Cleveland, Ohio; Seth Parmer , a senior international business management major minoring in marketing from Modesto, California; Tyler Redding, a member of the Honors College and senior social work major minoring in sociology from Blandon, Pennsylvania; and William Shultz, a senior animal and nutritional science major minoring in equine studies, addiction studies and agribusiness management from Summit Point.
The 2019 WVU Alumni Association’s Chapter and Service Awards were also presented at halftime.
Dr. Norman D. Ferrari (’79 BA, ’82 MD) is the 2019 Outstanding Alumnus, and Kim Harrison (’86 BS, ’07 MA) is the recipient of the David W. Jacobs Lifetime Service Award.
Katie Moore (’10 BMDS, ’10 MA) is the recipient of the Margaret Buchanan Cole Young Alumni Award, Annette Fetty Santilli (’93 MA) the James R. McCartney Community Service Award, Dana Brooks (’76 MSPE, ’79 EDD) the Paul B. “Buck” Martin Award, and The West Virginia University Alumni Band is the recipient of the John F. Nicholas Jr. Award.
Dr. Joshua Mali (’04 BS Biology, ’09 MD), founder and CEO of Mali Enterprises and board-certified ophthalmologist in Sarasota, Florida, served as the Grand Marshal for the annual Homecoming parade Friday evening (Oct. 4).
