Candidates for West Virginia University’s 2012 Homecoming court have been selected. The five female and five male candidates will now compete for the title of king and queen.

Homecoming queen candidates are: Andria Alvarez from Bridgeport, Brooke Andrews from Morgantown, Ali Jeney from Clarksburg, Danielle Vincent from Bridgeport and Breanne Zackery from Maidsville.

Homecoming king candidates are: Ryan Cox from Morgantown, BJ Hatfield from Madison, Steve Orlowski from Leonia, N.J., Joey West from Wheeling and Rick Wright from Morgantown.

The candidates began campaigning on Monday. Voting will take place on Sept. 26 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center and on Sept. 27 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Mountainlair.

The entire court will participate in the Homecoming parade, which takes place on High Street, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.

The 2012 Homecoming king and queen will be crowned during a halftime ceremony at the WVU vs. Baylor football game on Sept. 29 at Milan Puskar Stadium.

A brief bio for each candidate follows:

Homecoming queen candidates:

Andria Alvarez is a public relations and multidisciplinary studies major from Bridgeport. Alvarez is an active member of the Delta Gamma sorority, where she has held many leadership positions and is a member of PRSSA. She has also served as the vice president of correspondence and intersorority relations on the WVU Panhellenic Council. While at WVU, Alvarez has participated in various service learning projects including Buy Local Ritchie County and The House That WVU Built. She currently works as a student assistant in the Mountaineer Athletic Club. She is the daughter of David and Kimberly Alvarez. She is sponsored by the Delta Gamma sorority.

Brooke Andrews is a biochemistry major from Morgantown. She is a member of Alpha Phi sorority where she has been the vice president and director of scholarship. She is president of the University’s Panhellenic Council and is a member of National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta and Golden Key. She was invited to the Emerging Leaders Institute leadership conference and completed an internship conducting HIV research at the University of London. She is the daughter of Bruce Andrews and Judie Charlton. She is sponsored by the Alpha Phi sorority.

Ali Jeney is an international studies and environmental geoscience major from Clarksburg. She has been involved in women’s club soccer, outdoor adventure club, snowboard club and snowboard team. She has been a student leader for the Adventure WV orientation program for four years, where she also serves on the leadership committee. She spent a semester studying abroad in Sweden. Jeney has volunteered with organizations such as Amizade, Cooper’s Rock Foundation, Friends of Deckers Creek, Positive Spin and others. She is the daughter of Chris Jeney and Susan Platt. She is sponsored by Adventure WV.

Danielle Vincent is an industrial engineering major from Bridgeport. She is an active member of Kappa Kappa Gamma where she has served as member at large, president and registrar. She has also been a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the Mountaineer Maniacs. Vincent volunteers at Christian Help. She is the daughter of Rob and Liz Vincent. She has interned at Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and did a co-op at Advanced Acoustic Concepts. She is sponsored by the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Breanne Zackery is an advertising major from Morgantown. She is a four-year senior in the WVU Marching Band and serves as section leader of the color guard. She is also a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and attends Riverside Apostolic Church where she is very involved in its campus ministry group. Zackery is a Sunday School teacher at Chaplin Apostolic Church. She is the daughter of Gayle and Amber Zackery. She is sponsored by the WVU Marching Band fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi and the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Homecoming king candidates:

Ryan Cox is a multidisciplinary major from Morgantown. He is a long-standing member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and is the current Interfraternity Council president. He has worked as a student employee at the Student Recreation Center and the Student Organizations Services office. Cox was named Greek Man of the Year in 2012 and volunteers at the American Legion Mountaineer Boys State as a councilor. He is the son of Brad and Abby Cox. He is sponsored by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Interfraternity Council.

BJ Hatfield is an athletic coaching education major from Madison. He currently serves as the 2012-13 Alternate Mountaineer Mascot. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He is also involved with the Mountaineer Maniacs Leadership Board and is currently the co-chair of the watch party committee, Mountain Honorary, Ronald McDonald House charities and his home church, Madison United Methodist. Hatfield has also been a Gold and Blue Student Ambassador. He is the son of A. Jay and Marylin Hatfield. He is sponsored by the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Steve Orlowski is a sport management major from Leonia, N.J. He is the assistant director of the Mountaineer Maniacs and interns for the WVU Sports Marketing department. Orlowski previously served as an athletic councilman in Student Government Association. He is a re-founding father of the Sigma Nu fraternity, where he has successfully brought the chapter back on campus. He is an active member of St. John’s Parish. He is the son of Francis and Joann Orlowski. He is sponsored by the Mountaineer Maniacs.

Joey West is an aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering and multidisciplinary studies major from Wheeling. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and intramural soccer. He is currently testing leader of the WVU design/build/fly team, which finished ninth out of 68 teams last year. West is a member of the WVU microgravity research team. His community activities include American Red Cross and Christian Help, among others. He is the son of Joe and Kim West. He is sponsored by the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.

Rick Wright is a petroleum and natural gas engineering major from Morgantown. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity where he is the head of philanthropy, Society of Petroleum Engineers, the American Association of Drilling Engineers and Young West Virginians for Coal. He spent last summer interning at Chevron Deepwater Exploration and Projects in Texas. Last year, he worked at Enervest Corporation, as well. He is the son of Fred and Lori Wright. He is sponsored by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

For more information on 2012 Homecoming, visit http://homecoming.wvu.edu/.

-WVU-

td/09/20/12

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