Mercer University crowned Dalton Loyd '25 and Alisha Mitchell '26 as Homecoming king and queen on Saturday. Droves of Mercer fans came to Macon to cap off Homecoming week and cheer on the Bears as they took on East Tennessee State University. Both Loyd and Mitchell are involved in Mercer's Student Government Association (SGA), and Mitchell works as a staff writer for The Mercer Cluster.
“I was very honored, very excited,” Loyd said. “To have students vote for you to make it on the field and then to be announced the king, it means a lot. It shows that any little thing that you do on this campus can have a big impact.”
Loyd joined a line of SGA presidents who, in the past four years, have been named Homecoming king, including Rylan Allen ‘23 and Benjamin Smith ‘24 when he was crowned on Saturday. On Friday evening, Loyd took part in a tradition as President of SGA, in which he danced alongside Mercer cheerleaders prior to the Homecoming Court being announced.
"It's always an honor for SGA to take have their name as the king and queen for Homecoming," Loyd said. He also pointed out SGA's win in the medium bracket during Homecoming week. The competition, which measured participation and success among various events, was put on last week by Campus Life and QuadWorks. The Lip Sync Battle, which took place in Toney Auditorium on Friday evening, was the final part of the competition.
A Central Georgia native, Loyd is a member of Wesley of Macon, the Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and Theta Alpha Kappa honor societies and is a peer advisor for incoming freshmen. A religion and biology double major, Loyd said that he plans to get a Masters degree in higher education after he graduates this May.
Mitchell said the honor she felt about being named Homecoming queen came from knowing she was trusted by the student body.
"It's a big deal and I really appreciate being able to be trusted, and that means a lot to me, especially because I'm only a junior," Mitchell said. "It means that people see goodness and they do see someone that they can look up to and trust, and that's all I want to be for other Mercer people."
Mitchell was the first junior to win Homecoming queen since 2021, when Allen won Homecoming king as a representative of SGA. "Having that opportunity to win Homecoming queen is something that I don't take for granted and it's not something I take lightly, just because being able to represent Mercer is something worthwhile," Mitchell added.
Outside of SGA and The Mercer Cluster, Mitchell is a member of National Council of Negro Women, Organization of Black Students and works in Mercer's Admissions office. She is also the marketing chair for Georgia Women of Achievement with Executive Vice President Penny Elkins.
Among all the nominees for the Homecoming court, six were chosen other than Mitchell and Loyd. For Homecoming king, Zachary Carman '26, representing MerServe, Blake Adams '26, representing Phi Delta Theta, and Parth Patel '25, representing MU Miracle, were on the ballot. For Homecoming queen, Bree Withrow '25, representing Zeta Phi Beta, Emma Davis '25, representing Phi Mu, and Emma Bjornstad '25, representing Alpha Delta Pi, were each in the running.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as co-Editor-in-Chief. When he isn't studying, he enjoys going for runs and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
