THE Daily
Thursday, October 2, 2025
MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Homecoming Queen candidates enter run-off, maid glitch prompts revote
REAGAN KURTZ / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Miss Ole Miss Riley Dellenger, in the solid red dress, celebrates with friends after her win on Sept. 30.
DYLAN THOMAS News Staff Writer
Adya Praveen and Saige Drake compete today for Homecoming Queen in a run-off election after none of the four Homecoming Queen candidates received over 50% of the student body vote during Tuesday’s election. Students will vote for the Homecoming Queen today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Also today, another round of voting will be held for Freshman Maid, Sophomore Maid, Junior Maid and Senior Maid. During the announcement of Homecoming and Personality election winners on Tuesday evening, Associated Student Body Attorney General Madison Waldrop indicated voting irregularities in those rac-
es would be investigated. In a statement posted on the ASB’s Instagram account on Wednesday, Waldrop said, “Tuesday afternoon, the ASB Department of Justice was notified of a possible glitch in the myOleMiss system allowing certain students to vote in multiple Homecoming Maid races. The ASB Code and Constitution only permits students to vote in one Homecoming Maid race. The potential glitch put the integrity and validity of Tuesday’s Homecoming Maid races in question. After consultation with my team and our advisors, we decided there was no choice but to hold a new vote for the Homecoming Maid races this Thursday, Oct. 2, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.” Students can vote in the
Homecoming Queen and Homecoming Maid races on their myOleMiss accounts. The results will be released tonight after voting closes. The candidates and their respective teams were allotted two more days to table on the Union Plaza as a part of the run-off election. Praveen and Drake were both invigorated going into the run-off election day. Praveen and Drake’s success, however, would not be possible without the support of their campaign teams who assisted with tabling, created campaign materials and represented the candidates and their messages. Ella Rossi, a sophomore majoring in public policy leadership and journalism
SEE HOMECOMING PAGE 2
HOTEL
TRIVIA
Plein Air’s Hotel Leighton is set to open in fall 2026.
Three local restaurants offer trivia nights that provide intellectual entertainment to the Oxford community.
SEE PAGE 5
SEE PAGE 11
Volume 114, No. 6
UM creates new SAF funding model NOAH WALTERS
Assistant News Editor
In the wake of the university suspending Student Activity Fee (SAF) fund distribution to comply with Mississippi House Bill 1193, the Division of Student Affairs hosted a Student Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 1, for representatives of various registered student organizations (RSOs) to discuss how organizations will receive funding in the future. “Over the last few weeks, university staff, in consultation with student leaders, have worked diligently to create a new model to provide student programming funded by student activity fees. The new model — which we have
seen work successfully at peer universities — provides more university-sponsored events using the student activity fees, in place of distributing student activity fees directly to registered student organizations to put on programming,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Shawnboda Mead said in an email to RSO leaders on Sept. 25. HB 1193 prohibits Mississippi public K-12 and postsecondary schools from maintaining “any programs, including academic programs or courses, or offices that promote or endorse divisive concepts or concepts promoting transgender ideology, gender-neutral pronouns,
SEE SAF PAGE 3
Turning Point hosts conservative activist Brilyn Hollyhand
LEXI TITUS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Brilyn Hollyhand delivers a speech in the Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union on Sept. 30.
HANNAH IVEY
News Staff Writer
Nineteen-year-old activist, author and political speaker Brilyn Hollyhand took to the stage at the University of Mississippi on Tuesday, Sept. 30, as part of his contribution to the “One Conversation at a Time” tour. This event followed the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and was sponsored by the Kirk-founded organization Turning Point USA. Hollyhand gave a speech after which he answered questions from the audience. According to The Brilyn Hollyhand Show, Hollyhand’s
primary goals with this tour are to carry on Kirk’s legacy and to engage young people in conservative politics. “We’re here for a conversation,” Hollyhand said at the event. “‘One Conversation at a Time’ is intentional. We named this tour because we want to have a conversation. We want to champion civil discourse.” Hollyhand then mentioned Kirk, who shared the mission of encouraging young Americans to become involved in politics. “That’s what my friend Charlie did best — he championed civil discourse,” Hollyhand
SEE HOLLYHAND PAGE 3