Christina Lawler has dedicated her last three years at Ole Miss to bettering the campus and promoting the university, and on last month, all of the dedication paid off when she was elected homecoming queen.
“A flood of emotions hit me when I realized that I had just won homecoming queen,” Lawler said, recalling the night she was elected. “I’m not someone who typically gets pretty emotional, and I immediately burst into tears and was just so overwhelmed with excitement.”
Based on her admiration for the university and all of the memories she’s accumulated since she’s been at the university, Lawler decided to run for homecoming queen as a way to give back even more to the Ole Miss family.
“I chose to run for homecoming queen because of the love that I have for Ole Miss and our community,” Lawler said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better past few years here.”
She said she’s had the time of her life meeting different people on campus and making the most of campus events.
“This place has given me everything academically and socially, and I am just so thankful I made the decision to come here,” Lawler said.
Although Ole Miss was not her first option when deciding on a university to attend, once she visited the campus, the Denver native knew that it was the place for her.
“I originally had my eyes set on another school since it was a little closer to home,” Lawler said.
But a spring break trip to Oxford with her parents quickly changed her mind.
“We flew into the Memphis airport and were driving to campus, and we turned onto Jackson Avenue, and I told my parents as we were literally passing the Walmart that I knew that I was going to come to school here.”
For the remainder of her visit, she convinced her parents to set up extra appointments with advisers to gaurantee her acceptance.
“I cancelled all the other school visits for that week, and we stayed an extra day in Oxford, and I was sold,” Lawler said. “My parents and I always laugh that I had the feeling about the school even before the tour, and I think a lot of people can say that once they get to Oxford, they just know that Ole Miss is where they want to go.”
Katie Morgan, a senior accounting major, met Lawler her sophomore year through mutual friends after transferring to Ole Miss.
“There are so many things I love about Christina, but the thing I admire most about her is her ability to make people laugh in all situations,” Morgan said. “Christina is both silly and serious, almost always having a smile on her face with a very down-to-earth mindset.”
Morgan said she believes it’s Lawler’s selflessness that makes her so deserving of her new title.
“Christina is a great homecoming queen because not only does she love Ole Miss, but she loves to serve Ole Miss. She has been involved on campus since her freshman year and has only been increasing her campus presence as she’s gotten more involved,” Morgan said. “Christina enjoys meeting new people through her involvement and maintains these relationships, and I know as homecoming queen she will continue to make a lasting impact on these people as well as our university as a whole.”
Lawler said she enjoyed running for homecoming queen, although this campaign was not her first time participating in student elections.
“The whole experience of running was a lot of fun. I have helped with a few campaigns before, but it was very different being on my own actual campaign,” she said. “It was a lot of work and full of a lot of decision-making, but I had the best support system with me throughout the entire experience.”
Lawler credits her close friends and family with being the reason she enjoyed her campaign so much.
“I couldn’t have done it without them, and I think they are the reason that made my campaign so much fun,” she said.
A senior public policy leadership major and business administration minor, Lawler plans to attend law school in the fall.
