Homecoming Man and Woman of the Year competition highlights some of university's most influential students

As is tradition, last year's Man and Woman of the Year Katie Herring and Patrick Vining will take the field during halftime of the Southeast Missouri State University's homecoming football game on Saturday to crown this year's winners.

Junior public relations major and selections co-chair for the homecoming planning committee Ashley Harris said the candidates who win the honorary title of Man and Woman of the Year are well-rounded, involved students at Southeast who fully represent the university.

"That's [what] we hope these candidates will do is, you know, inspire people and represent the university and all that it has to offer, and the success that the university can provide," Harris said.

Each campus organization can nominate one female and one male representative from its organization for an interview with a panel of judges.

Harris said the five judges on the panel were chosen from a wide variety of university departments by the selections branch of the Homecoming Planning Committee. Harris said they picked professors and deans who stood out to them as personable and who they thought represented the university.

Madeline McKenzie Hometown: Wildwood, Mo. Gamma Phi Beta - Standards Board and Alumnae Relations Chair Panhellenic Council - Vice President of Community Relations Greek Area Council - Past Council President

Candidates for Man and Woman of the Year must have at least 60 credit hours, have at least a 3.0 GPA and participate in more than one campus organization.

This year's finalists for Woman of the Year are Mary Bauer, Megan Stackle, Madeline McKenzie, Olivia Plumlee and Leshay Mathis.

The finalists for Man of the Year are Derek May, Corey Culbreath, Greg Felock, Dominic Cicerelli and Chris Dzurick.

Candidates are not allowed to campaign for themselves or each other in any way. Personal campaigning by candidates or their friends results in disqualification. The promotion of the candidates is taken care of by the Homecoming Planning Committee, Harris said.

This year the Homecoming Planning Committee tried to promote the event and get more students on campus to vote by using media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

"We're trying to take steps in that direction to make it more inclusive because it is an event for our entire campus," Harris said. "We want people to be involved and not just think that this is for large organizations."

Candidates shot individual videos that will be posted on YouTube and shared through the Facebook page titled "Southeast Missouri State Homecoming."

Dominic Cicerelli Hometown: St. Charles, Mo. Pi Kappa Alpha - President Criminal Justice Association - President Alpha Phi Sigma

"We wanted to give [the candidates] something that they could use as kind of campaigning, but that we produce and we have control over," Harris said. "But also, we wanted the student body to get to see a different side of some of them."

Graduate student Egbar Ozenkoski is the other selections co-chair of the Homecoming Planning Committee. Ozenkoski said the committee wanted something other than a picture and 50-word biography that Southeast students could use to make an informed decision.

Ozenkoski said after speaking with the judges, they thought the candidates' interviews and personality were what mattered, and a video would best represent those traits.

"They reassured us that that's the path to take," Ozenkoski said. "That the candidates in front of you mean so much more than the candidates on paper."

The individual videos of the candidates feature their answers to questions like what made them want to get involved at Southeast, their favorite Southeast memory and any advice or jokes they wished to share.

Greg Felock Hometown: St. Charles, Mo. Student Government Association - Vice President Lambda Chi Alpha - Vice President Presidential Ambassadors

Harris and Ozenkoski both said that the competition is tough.

"When judges come up to you afterwards and say 'I'm glad I did this, I'll do it again next year if you let me. This is great because I actually get to see what our student body can be made of.' It's that type of stuff that makes me go, 'Wow, [the candidates] know what they're doing,'" Ozenkoski said.

"Just standing back and looking at them and looking at their resumes, not including my personal standpoint, I honestly have no idea which way it's going to go," Harris said. "Because all of them are just awesome on paper, in person. They're all so fun, but they're all very well put together."

Ozenkoski was selected as one of the top five candidates for Southeast's Man of the Year in 2011. He said the candidates this year are a well-deserving group and anyone who makes the top five is deserving of that.

Derek May Hometown: Centralia, Ill. Lambda Chi Alpha - Philanthropy Chair Catholic Campus Ministry - Event Coordinator/Vice-President Habitat for Humanity - Vice President

Olivia Plumlee Hometown: St. Louis, Mo. Alpha Xi Delta - President Panhellic Council - President College Republicans - Event Coordinator/Vice President

Mary Brauer Hometown: Cape Girardeau, Mo. President's Leadership Academy Omicron Delta Kappa - Community Service Chairperson Alpha Chi Omega Sorority - Song Chairperson

Chris Dzurick Hometown: Fulton, Mo. Alpha Xi Delta - President Panhellic Council - President College Republicans - Event Coordinator/Vice President

Leshay Mathis Hometown: O'fallon, Ill. Presidential Ambassadors Omicron Delta Kappa - Vice President Alpha Chi Omega

Corey Culbreath Hometown: Herrin, Ill. Presidential Ambassadors - President Lambda Chi Omega - President Student Government Association - Senator for the college of Science, Technology, and Agriculture

"Being in the top five altogether, that's when you're really judged on your involvement, on you as a person, on your interview abilities," Ozenkoski said. "And all of that really gets viewed from a holistic approach by the judges, where getting past to that threshold is truly an accomplishment in its own. Winning's just the cherry on top."