Adya Praveen has lived in three different countries and multiple states, but Oxford has cemented itself as her home. Just as she chose to attend the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss chose her as its 2025 Homecoming Queen.
Praveen, a senior psychology major who was born in India and has called Madison, Miss., home since the sixth grade, won the Homecoming Queen crown after a runoff election on Thursday, Oct. 2. Her platform was centered on the people who supported her throughout her undergraduate degree.
While she never officially toured the UM campus until she arrived as a student, Praveen grew up visiting her brother who attended Ole Miss. Through these visits, she was able to learn all of the campus traditions and what the university had to offer.
“Growing up in Mississippi, I feel like Ole Miss has been all that I’ve ever known,” Praveen said. “I would come up here when (my brother) was a student. I feel like that was my first view of Ole Miss, through him and getting to see how he interacted with campus and meeting his friends and coming to football games. He was really like my first intro into what Ole Miss could provide.”
After frequently moving homes as a child, due to her parents being doctors in the military, and often being “the new kid,” Praveen was nervous at first to start a new chapter in college. However, the welcoming environment of UM quickly eased that anxiety.
“I came here, and that’s when I realized that Ole Miss doesn’t really require you to change who you are or who you want to be,” Praveen said. “Within the last four years, I came here and I got involved with different student organizations on campus, and I really felt like I was known for who I wanted to be, and not just a statistic on a document or just like a number on a piece of paper.”
Praveen noted that freshman year was when her appreciation for the university truly set in, as she saw how it accommodates people from all types of backgrounds.
“We’re all coming from different backgrounds, different cultures, and (you’re) being independent and being away from all that you’ve ever known. You’re all going through that same experience together,” Praveen said. “That really shapes you, and it can either ‘make you’ or ‘break you.’ And I think Ole Miss — just being such a supportive environment and having so many resources and being around people that are so similar to you — has allowed it to ‘make me,’ which I’m really thankful for.”
It is because of the belonging that Praveen found at UM during her first year that she decided to run for Homecoming Queen.
“It’s honestly completely out of my comfort zone to be able to stand and speak and really advocate for myself in this type of platform, but I think it just felt right for all that Ole Miss has given me,” Praveen said. “I wanted to then create that same community for other students who are going through the same process.”
Praveen praised the four members of her campaign team, including her campaign manager Meredith Lovitt, and cited them as examples of the relationships UM provides to students.
“I didn’t know any of them before I came to Ole Miss, and they were all friendships that were created through Ole Miss and through different clubs and organizations that I’ve been a part of,” Praveen said. “I feel like that itself holds value in just what my entire campaign has been about.”
She noted that organizations such as her sorority Chi Omega have greatly impacted her personal and professional life. She also holds leadership positions within Grove Grocery, now serving as the internal director, and also serves as pageant co-director for the Student Activities Association.
The whole campaign process and emotions she experienced, Praveen said, can be summed up in one moment at the end of election day. The speakers her team had been using to play music on the Union Plaza had been put away, and all of the team’s homemade friendship bracelets had been passed out.
“It was like, 6 p.m. on runoff day, and there was no one out on the plaza,” Praveen said. “We were just sitting out there with me and my team, and I just felt an overwhelming sense of peace, knowing that I had done everything I wanted to do with the campaign, and I’ve really made some genuine friendships at the table throughout the last three weeks. So I was completely happy with the results, no matter whether we had gotten the title or not.”
After graduation, Praveen plans to attend medical school.
“I’m hoping to attend med school and … just like I’ve met people (at UM) where they are, meet patients where they are, from all different walks of life, states, towns and just be able to provide and create connections through mere strangers,” Praveen said. “(I hope) to be able to create lifetime connections.”
Looking back, Praveen is happy with her campaign and the connections she made by running for Homecoming Queen.
“At the end of the day, Homecoming Queen is just a title, but I think what we really wanted to do was create that community through the campaign as a whole,” Praveen said.
