No More Homecoming King and Queen at the University of Minnesota; Only Gender-Neutral Royals

The march toward madness - not to be confused with NCAA basketball���s March Madness - continues.

As reported in the Daily Mail, the University of Minnesota has decided to drop the tradition of crowning a Homecoming King and Queen in favor of gender-neutral ���Royals,��� in a spirit of what school officials refer to as ���gender inclusivity.���

According to the university���s website, ���This change allows the University to select the best student representatives for the U of M based on campus and community involvement ��� regardless of gender.���

The Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) says that there will be 10 students selected for Homecoming Court, but ���this year the mix won���t necessarily be five men and five women.���

���Those 10 will be paired at random to compete in pre-Homecoming events, and their performance, along with a university-wide vote, will determine the two royals.���

The 2017 Minnesota Homecoming will be held October 15-21.

As it happens, the University of Minnesota is not the first school to drop the awarding of traditional Homecoming King and Queen titles in favor of something more ���inclusive.��� According to the Daily Mail, San Diego State University made this same change back in 2015.

���The reality is we don't live in a gender-binary system and so really recognizing that in a public way is really important and exciting,��� said Jessica Nare, San Diego State���s Women's Resource Center Coordinator Jessica Nare.

Apparently, the University of Minnesota agrees with you, Jessica.

As for those of us living here on Planet Earth, however���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large