Who doesn’t love it when ASB strolls into your third-period class for homecoming nominations? Having to fill out the homecoming nomination ballot and rack your brain for any couple in your grade to nominate is nothing short of terrifying. But what if it wasn’t that way? What if, like many other schools, OPHS did things the modern way? What if we ditched the couple requirement and just elected any two people?

Homecoming King and Queen are coveted titles, and whether they realize it or not, by requiring students as young as 14 to be in relationships in order to win a coveted title, the school is pushing young students in the direction of relationships they may not want or be mature enough to handle. This should be cause for concern, especially considering that other schools around the country have acknowledged and disposed of this outdated system. 

Currently, some students will never get a chance to win homecoming court. At OPHS, many students are academically motivated and don’t have time for relationships because they don’t have the time or their parents forbid them. None of them have a chance at a nomination for homecoming court because the rules say that the nominated pair must be a couple. The Homecoming Dance is one of our high school’s biggest events, yet many high schoolers don’t get the remotest chance at winning. With a different system, all students could have an equal opportunity to win, regardless of their relationship status. 

Our current system also ignores the all-too-common occurrence of couples in different grades. It’s no secret that sometimes people decide to be in relationships with people in other grades. Some of these relationships are super cute and would make great homecoming pairs, but they are disqualified from elections and thus barred from the experience. If ASB forces the winners to be couples, they should accept couples of all forms. The criteria to win are just too strict. You must be in the same grade, be a confirmed couple, have enough nominations, and agree to run. ASB forces us to go through so much hassle for an honor that’s so specific, the majority of students at OPHS can’t participate. 

While it might be a dread to have to vote for couples – at least you can secretly nominate you and your crush as a couple, right? Well, it looks like your innermost secret was just spilled to ASB! If you pay attention to the top of the voting form, you may notice that your email was recorded along with your response. So, there’s a direct digital receipt/tag identifying you. Now, it’s not like ASB dug through every individual response to find their nominees. Google forms will combine similar answers and give an overall statistic for which couples were voted the most. But that doesn’t stop your secret from being attached to your email and IP address for eternity.

The system needs some sweeping changes. We should discard the couples qualification and allow any group of two people to be selected. In this system, just the top two most nominated people would be placed together. This way, everyone has a chance whether or not they are a couple. The question of senior voting, where three couples are selected and one wins, must also be addressed. Instead of taking the top two nominees, ASB should take the top 6 nominees from the senior class. Then those 6 will be voted on to find the two that will win. Blindly following outdated and purposeless tradition is never the answer; the time is now to change the Homecoming Court selection process to something that everyone has a chance at and can participate in.