Grinning ear-to-ear while posing for photos after being announced King and Queen at the Homecoming football game, Lucas Mullin and Taylor McGown could not look happier.

“Winning homecoming King is more than just receiving a top hat and a plaque,” said Lucas Mullin. “Every one of the candidates has poured themselves into Washburn in some way, and it was such an honor to make it that far.”

A senior public administration major, Mullin serves as the vice president of the Washburn Student Government Association, is a member of Phi Delta Theta and Order of Omega honor society and a board member for the Community Resource Council. Participating in these, any other activities, allows Mullin to be involved in many campus events, including Homecoming week.

“Since I was chair of the homecoming committee, I had the opportunity to plan homecoming from the beginning,” said Mullin.  “It was a great process to go through and I enjoyed planning the schedule of events throughout the week,” he said.

As chair, Mullin met every week with the other committee members from April until Homecoming.  The committee worked to decide on the homecoming theme and its events.

“We looked at recommendations from previous years to see if it was an event we wanted to keep, a tradition, or if we wanted to throw in new things.  This year, we kept all the traditional events such as the ball, Ichabod Race, WU Chef, Yell like Hell, and Friday Night Madness,” said Mullin.

Homecoming week began with the Homecoming ball, Oct. 18, where Mullin and the other candidates were announced. As Mullin’s candidacy was announced, attendees at the ball showed their enthusiastic support for Mullin and all the candidates.

“I loved starting the week with the ball because it brought over 300 students together in an exciting atmosphere where we could celebrate the King and Queen nominations,” said Mullin.

As the week progressed, Mullin was able to participate in the events he, and the other members of the homecoming committee, planned.

“I also liked the library partnership on Wednesday and the fact that a Washburn student could have a chance to win a free iPad,” said Mullin.

The Washburn texting competition sponsored by the Student Friends of Mabee Library was a first for homecoming week and for the school.

“Through my position in WSGA, senators and I worked together to connect with all student organizations, as well as follow up with them, in order to try and get as many organizations involved as possible.  We had an increase in participation and registration this year, and I feel that it was due to our increases communication efforts,” said Mullin.

Besides the texting competition, other firsts for this year’s homecoming week included a new mini golf tournament, the Say Cheez photo booth and record turnouts for Yell like Hell on Thursday, Oct. 20, and Friday Night Madness the following night.

“The bleachers were completely packed with students wanting to show school pride and get pumped for the big day Saturday,” said Mullin.

“My main job during the week was to ensure that every event ran as smoothly as possible. Due to my hair responsibilities, it was hard for me to sponsor and participate.  Even though I was behind the scenes, I really enjoyed watching students have a lot of fun and excitement and prepare for the big game.”

Saturday’s homecoming game against Northwest Missouri State may have ended in disappointment for Washburn sports fans, but for Mullin and the other homecoming candidates it was a culmination of well more than a week’s worth of hard work.

“After hearing my name announced, all I could think about was how it was a huge thank you I could share with my friends, fellow Ichabods, and most importantly my family,” said Mullin. “If it wasn’t for my family, I would not even have had the opportunity to be here and invest my time and energy into Washburn.”