Asa Lewis (left) UH Homecoming queen and Navid Hasan (right) Homecoming king after being crowned on Saturday. | Photo courtesy of Jean Paul Fuentes
Psychology senior Asa Lewis and management information systems and marketing senior Navid Hasan are the University’s 2022 Homecoming Queen and King.
Although campaigning presented itself in different ways for them, their biggest motivation to run for Homecoming court stemmed from their similar ideal of giving back and making all students feel represented at the University.
“I wanted students who had been here at the University who hadn’t had that typical college experience to feel like not only connected to one person but to each other and to feel some type of love and connection to the University even more,” Lewis said. “And so this will be a platform for me to reach other people in different ways that they probably never been possible.”
Facing challenges with campaigning, outreach and even dealing with imposter syndrome were a few of the stumbling blocks that turned into stepping stones for Hasan and Lewis. Ensuring that students knew how to vote made up a portion of the student engagement process, but was also the most stressed upon, Hasan said.
Though the spotlight is shining on them, they both expressed their gratitude to their running mates, Quindon Bowers and Laura Bere, throughout this experience. They both emphasized the best moment while campaigning was having a great support system of friends that made running preparations not only successful for them but fun as well.
“She (Bere) with a couple of our mutual friends made a trifold that was displayed on our table, which was really nice and I feel like gave a great overview of our campaign and who we are as people,” Hasan said. “It was a collaborative effort but I really want to emphasize how much she led the campaign.”
Lewis shared similar sentiments for her running mate as Hasan.
“I wanted to work with somebody I know that I would have a good time with, but also know that he (Bowers) would be on board for anything that I wanted to achieve and what he wanted to achieve as well,” Lewis said. “So that’s why me and Quindon ran with the hashtag ‘leading with love’ because with everything we did on campus, it had love behind the intent.”
When asked ‘how does it feel to be UH royalty?’ The straightforward answer from Lewis and Hasan was initially being overwhelmed with emotions, and as they’re soaking in all the upliftment, they understand that a great role comes with great responsibility.
The pair have already thought about initiatives that they want to achieve with the University and collaborate with each other on.
“You know, it’s been a great experience, I got to meet all of these people, talk to President Khator, the provost, different faculty and even met Sheila Jackson Lee,” Hasan said. “But its been great, the outpouring of support which I received has just been amazing. But I want to do big things with this role, so that is for the future and I hope to work with faculty and kind of get things moving.”
Lewis highlighted wanting to create more spaces on campus for students of different ethnic groups to feel connected with each other, and Hasan wants to build more visible job and research opportunities for students.
Lewis said that her main takeaway from this experience is to “live in the moment, a lot more.” She wishes to continue to do so in other areas of her life and hopes that everyone had a great time and continues to “lead with love in their hearts.”
While Homecoming week has ended, a time when students and faculty celebrate the spirit of UH, finding ways to excite your college experience should continue throughout your time on campus, Lewis and Hasan said.
“Essentially, I think that as a student you should go out there and get involved as much as you can,” Hasan said. “Just meeting new people and being a part of communities and opportunities is really important to your growth and development as a student and it just adds to the experience of being in college overall.”
For many, Homecoming is about highlighting unity and belonging on campus, which Hasan and Lewis emphasized throughout their campaigns.
“Never doubt who you are and always believe that what you want in life you can obtain it with faith within yourself and the support of others,” Lewis said. “Because people see something in you before you ever see it within yourself.”
