Traditions come and go—and when the world changes, sometimes traditions need to change with it. At Kennedy, the traditional titles of “Homecoming King and Queen” have been replaced by the generic term “Homecoming Royalty,” causing controversy on social media and in the local community.

The modification was made to promote inclusivity and step away from harmful traditions, crowning the top two most-voted nominees as Homecoming Royalty, regardless of gender. In this year’s crowning, two girls were named Kennedy’s 2024 Homecoming Royalty for the first time, seniors Maggie Goldberg and Ella Moser.

After this result was shared on social media, people expressed disappointment in straying from the traditional “one male and one female.” On the Kennedy Facebook Page, 95 comments were posted under the announcement, a stark contrast to the Homecoming post last year, which yielded only two.

“I congratulate both girls, but…was disappointed and embarrassed by our school last night in regards to this decision,” Angie Brekke said in a comment.

Comments such as these come off as disingenuous, with ‘but’ negating congratulatory remarks—especially when followed by expressions of negativity.

“It’s a tradition and I’m tired of traditions all being tossed out because somebody complained,” Kari Kunstorf said in a comment.

Statements in this realm are nothing but assumptions, and false ones at that. According to Student Government Adviser Collin Hollander, the change was a suggestion from administration and ultimately, was a decision made by student government.

The fact that these Facebook users fail to face is that the title of “Royalty” has no effect on the actual award. The revamped title allows for the two candidates who receive the most votes from the student body to be crowned regardless of gender.

“Congratulations!” Kim Hofmann said in a comment, “Do not let anyone’s small minded comments effect this decision and how you celebrate. Here’s to raising up more kids who love, respect and value all lives.”

After all, why should someone who may have received the fourth most votes be crowned over the second, due to something trivial like needing a king and queen when royalty awards the same honor?

Using “tradition” to mask jealousy and intolerance is a theme throughout the comment section, however, it was the only point of contention. Complaints surfaced alleging students were uninformed about the change in the voting.

“I feel badly for the boys who were nominated and had no idea after excitement and anticipation that nobody was going to be crowned,” Kunstorf said in another comment.

This is a lazy excuse for close-mindedness. Kennedy’s Homecoming Royalty voting system has been made clear to all students since its introduction. On the final ballot sent to all students, it stated, “You may vote for up to TWO members of the Homecoming Court to be named Homecoming Royalty.” The winners are crowned with sashes that read “Homecoming Royalty,” not king and queen, and have been for years.

“I was aware that we could have two queens for our crowning, that’s how it was done in the past at Kennedy,” senior homecoming court member Cade Beck said. “I don’t think it’s unfair that two boys or girls could win, that’s how voting works. I loved both of our homecoming queens this year.”

Nowhere on the ballot does it suggest that students are to select one male and one female. The student body was allowed two votes each, meaning the consensus of the student body was that the most deserving candidates happened to both be girls.

“Voting is not based on gender at any point. We go from 28 to top 14 to top 2,” Hollander said.

This is also evidenced by the 2023 Homecoming Court, where the top 14 were split unevenly, with eight boys and six girls, as was the 2023 Prom Court which included nine boys and six girls. So, where was the backlash and outbursts on social media? The boys were the majority on both of those courts, but nobody seemed to have a problem.

This world is ever-changing. Traditions must change to keep up with our modern world. In the same way that women are no longer looked at as a service to their husbands, we don’t need a king and a queen to continue the tradition of homecoming royalty.

“Four to five years ago administration asked student government if they would look into switching from King and Queen to Royalty to be more inclusive,” Hollander said. “Student government students spent a class researching the pros and cons of running Homecoming each way and determined that they were fine with switching to royalty with the two highest vote recipients getting crowned.”

At the end of the day, the excuses presented by users on social media are nothing but. Excuses. Excuses for ignorance. Excuses for resistance to change. Excuses for unwarranted anger. The Homecoming Royalty is and was decided by the student body.

So, there is a larger question to be posed; why are the adults the most disturbed by the results? The student body voted. They voted to crown two girls and the only ones openly expressing negative sentiments are adults.

This story was originally published on Kennedy Torch on October 25, 2024.