North Carolina hosts Wake Forest on Homecoming this Saturday. One of the first times, if not the first time, that Carolina played Wake on Homecoming came in 1975.

While the Occupy Wall Street crowd isn’t as large as the anti-Vietnam War crowd and there isn’t the same attention that was paid to Watergate, there are similarities and differences between the eras.

There was much cynicism between young people and “the establishment” through much of the 1970s. This cynicism led to some students thinking traditions like Homecoming were corny.

Perhaps partly as a result of that cynicism, one male student (Delmar Williams) ran for Homecoming queen in 1975 – and won. Many said it made a farce out of the tradition. While UNC Athletics Director Homer Rice called it an “embarrassment,” his office reached a compromise where Williams was called Homecoming king (and received all the honors the queen would receive) and the second place vote getter (Paula Long) was named Honorary Homecoming queen. Carolina lost the game to Wake Forest 21-9. Each team wound up the season with only three wins.

The system for electing a queen has been changed dramatically where it is tough, if not impossible, for someone to pull shenanigans such as that. Plus, there is a Homecoming king today as well. I have written a piece on the history of Homecoming at UNC which will be used by the UNC General Alumni Association so keep an eye out for it.

There was an article in the Charlotte Observer a couple of years ago about the life of Delmar Williams, the Homecoming king of 1975. If you’d like to read it, please click here.