On Saturday, October 15, 2016, a historic and ground-breaking moment occurred at the University of Central Florida.
Kevin Louidor and Sabrina Jerome were crowned as the university’s first ever Haitian-American Homecoming king and queen. Saturday was the first time in which both the king and queen of Homecoming were black, according to the UCF Homecoming royalty couple. Not only do Kevin and Sabrina break racial barriers, but they are also positive role models and represent the university well.
Kevin, a 20-year-old junior, majoring in Health Services Administration, aspires to be a CEO of a hospital someday. This goal-oriented young man, is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity Inc., Alpha Kappa Psi, Fraternity Inc., and Progressive Black Men, Inc.
Louidor is not the only Homecoming royalty that’s making moves. Sabrina, a 21-year-old senior, double majoring in Political Science and Religion/Cultural Studies wants to pursue a career as a social advocate for immigrant populations. Continually, she represents Club Kreyol, the President Leadership Council, Student Government Association (SGA) and the Multicultural Student Center.
We were granted the opportunity to speak to them on their experience being crowned Homecoming Royalty.
Describe the experience running for Homecoming King and Queen?
KL: The experience was amazing. I got to attend every event during Homecoming Week. It was truly inspiring just seeing all the students come to the events, and how much school spirit we actually have as Knights.
SJ: I completely concur. It was so fun getting to know the rest of our royalty court, friends, and be able to see UCF’s greatest tradition at that level was a memorable experience.
Why did you want to become Homecoming King/Queen?
KL: The reason I wanted to become Homecoming King is just to inspire other students. Specifically, minority students, that you can come on a university’s campus and the sky is truly the limit. You can accomplish anything you want to accomplish, just by going out and reaching for your goals. I hope me winning Homecoming Court is an inspiration for everyone on this campus.
SJ: That’s exactly why I wanted to be Homecoming Queen. Upon my nomination, it was just such a great opportunity. The representation that comes out of those titles is just so inspiring for so many people. After being crowned, so many little kids wanted to take pictures with us and were looking up to us. It’s important to have people that look like you to inspire you to reach that level and beyond. So that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
How does it feel to be the first black pair for Homecoming Court at UCF?
SJ: It feels great. When it happened, I don’t even know how to explain it. A lot of people asked when it first happened. For me, I just felt a sort of serenity, because it just felt like everybody just won. It wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just Kevin. A whole entire community just won.
KL: For me, it feels great, like Sabrina just said. It looks great on a university that there’s diversity. It shows diversity. It shows that together as a community, we really could accomplish a lot.
So with this in mind, why do you feel that representation is important?
SJ: Representation is important because when you don’t have people that look like you in positions of power or of prestige, it kind of… It affects the psyche of an entire person. My whole entire campaign was that I was running for not just one group but for an entire minority population. Not pertaining to a particular race or ethnicity but just everyone that’s underrepresented. So when you have that representation other people feel like those jobs or those titles or any other thing that they aspire to do are attainable.
KL: Piggyback off of Sabrina, it’s just the whole goal of seeing someone else who kind of looks like you in a sense, not necessarily black or white or Hispanic, or Asian…To know that a minority student was able to accomplish something of that goal is just amazing and inspiring.
This moment in UCF history is definitely one for the books. Kevin and Sabrina’s win are the quintessential example of the diversity and social progress the UCF community has made.
