Collegiate Times

Amy Gray and Sumeet Bagai are not ordinary Hokies. They are Hokies of royalty. They even have crowns to prove it.

Gray, a senior English major, and Bagai, a fifth-year business management major, are Virginia Tech?s current Homecoming Queen and King as of halftime at the Homecoming game, which took place Oct. 21, 2006 against the University of Southern Mississippi.

In addition to being crowned Queen, Gray is a member of Kappa Delta, a social sorority and the sponsoring organization that nominated her as their Homecoming Court representative.

?My sisters supported me,? Gray said. ?You have to have a strong organization behind you to have a chance.?

Bagai is very involved in the university through various activities. He is currently the executive vice president of German Club, which was his sponsoring organization, and he is the chair for the Commission on Student Affairs, which reports to the University Council.

Bagai is also the coordinator for Hokies United, which helped raise money for the families of the fallen officers involved with the William Morva investigation at the beginning of the semester, as well as a member of Order of the Gavel. Past offices he?s held include Student Government Association president, the Class of 2006 president and the list goes on.

Bagai said this was the first election he was in that was truly about an organization winning. ?Other elections were individual, but German Club had enough faith to sponsor me,? Bagai said. ?They campaigned and took it to heart, worked really hard and that?s why we won.?

Gray was skeptical of her chances of making it on court.

?They only take eight females and eight guys, ? Gray said. ?They only take a couple of sororities, and they don?t want all Greek because that?s not what Tech is all about. I thought my chances were pretty slim.?

Gray is also the vice president of recruitment/membership for Kappa Delta, she was an Orientation Leader for the summer of 2005, and an Orientation Team Leader this past summer. Gray has been involved in a multitude of events and organizations during her collegiate career, including being involved with the Residence Hall Federation her freshman year and helping to put on the Mat Nathanson concert for Greek Week in 2005 as the activity coordinator.

She helped Tulane transfer students find their way around Tech after Hurricane Katrina last year, and she volunteered to do various acts of community service including the Special Olympics, Big Event and Relay for Life.

Gray said winning was a blur. She remembered holding on to her dad and trying to remember where to turn, where to stand and what to do next out on the field, and she remembers hearing Sumeet?s name announced for Homecoming King. ?Sumeet and I were each other?s backbone through the whole thing,? Gray said. ?I was totally stoked when he got it. Then I thought, ?Oh God, it?s time.??

Gray saw President Steger announce her name as Queen, but with the eight-second delay on the microphone, she and President Steger were the only ones who knew that she won for those few seconds. ?I didn?t think I had won,? Gray said. ?There was no way. All the girls were incredible, and I just put my hand over my mouth ? I was trying to think, what am I supposed to say, I totally forgot it. I could hear everyone screaming, but I couldn?t see them ? my dad was just looking at me like, ?Holy crap, I can?t believe you pulled this off!??

Bagai said the coolest thing about winning was seeing German Club members and friends after and hearing how they felt at halftime.

Continue Reading: 12 Next »