After missing her opportunity to become prom queen in high school, Eliza Eames was stunned to be this year’s Shippensburg University homecoming queen.
Eames is a senior psychology major and disability studies minor from Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. On campus she works as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Naugle Hall and is part of the orientation staff on campus.
Eames is a member of the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma where she held the positions of risk management chairmen, social chairmen and was a part of the recruitment team during her sophomore and junior years at SU. She refers to the sorority as her second family.
Eventually, Eames wants to be the director of fraternity and sorority life at a southern university. She is looking at southern graduate schools to get close to her Louisiana roots.
“Right now I’m looking at University of Louisville,” Eames said. “I really love their [graduate] program and I’m also looking at Shippensburg and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.”
Out of all of her many passions, the Special Olympics holds a special place in Eames’ heart. She started volunteering at the organization during her freshman year and found her passion teaching others to swim. She is determined to continue volunteering at the organization for the rest of her life.
During her free time, Eames enjoys calligraphy and watercolor painting. She is also an avid fan of the Harry Potter series and is a self-described Slytherin.
“You can find me watching the movies or reading one of the books any day of the week, it’s what gets me calm,” Eames said.
Eames is currently interning at SU’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Compliance. She helps handles the discrimination, violence and sexual based harassment on campus.
She is also an intern at Project Green Dot where she trains other staff members.
When she first started at SU, Eames had no intentions on being on homecoming court when she first started at SU. In high school, she was nominated for prom queen during her senior year but backed out due to her shy nature. Eames decided to run for homecoming queen in college.
During her time on homecoming court, Eames volunteered for 34 hours at Shippensburg Produce Outreach and the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter. In total, the homecoming court raised over $10,000 for the Shippensburg Produce Outreach program.
“It was stressful but it was great to be able to know that we will feed over 600 families for the rest of the year,” Eames said.
Becoming homecoming queen has been a grateful experience for Eames as she learned more about herself and understood more about what SU truly means.
Students interested in running for homecoming court need to know what they are representing and to have faith in themselves, Eames said.
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