A Homecoming celebration of school pride, tradition and the state’s coal industry culminated at West Virginia University Saturday (Oct. 25) with the crowning of Laya Chennuru and Christopher Morrison as the 2025 Homecoming Royalty.
Surrounded by members of the Homecoming Court and family, the Mountaineer Marching Band, and thousands of cheering fans and alumni, the winners were announced during the halftime ceremony at the Coal Rush football game against TCU at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Chennuru, a 2022 Foundation Scholar and member of the Honors College, is a senior neuroscience and psychology dual major from Martinsburg who has worked to raise awareness of social issues on campus as an Office of Compliance and Prevention Education Peer Advocate. She also serves as Presidential Student Ambassador, and a member of the Wellbeing and Mental Health Student Advisory Board and Global Medical and Dental Brigades. Chennuru was sponsored by the Peer Advocates.
Christopher Morrison, also a member of the Honors College, is a senior marketing major with an emphasis in professional sales from McDonald, Pennsylvania, who serves as an ambassador for the Professional Sales Institute in the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics. He is also the captain of the WVU Fastenal Sales Team, vice president of alumni relations for Delta Sigma Pi and a member of the American Marketing Association. Morrison was sponsored by the American Marketing Association.
The three-phase Homecoming Royalty selection process begins with an application review by a panel of student and staff judges. Judges then advance the top 20 applicants to the interview phase, and the 10 candidates with the highest combined scores from applications and interviews are named to the Homecoming Court. This year, a scoring tie resulted in 11 court members. The two winners are ultimately chosen based on a score that is weighted equally between their application and interview performance, and peer voting.
The other candidates, all seniors, include: Macey Barritt, a political science and philosophy major minoring in leadership studies from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Kayla Bordogna, a psychology major from Morgantown; Sydney Hickle, a political science major minoring in philosophy and Spanish from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Julia Leyden, a history, political science and philosophy major minoring in leadership studies from Morgantown; Minah Moine, an exercise physiology major with an emphasis in health professions from Clarksburg; Payton Ogden, an advertising and public relations major minoring in marketing and strategic social media from Morgantown; Logan Pierce, a political science and international studies major from Carolina; Bella Randle, an entrepreneurship and innovation, finance and marketing major from Cincinnati, Ohio; and Michael Taylor, a political science, dance and philosophy major from Clendenin.
The WVU Alumni Association also presented the 2025 Homecoming and Alumni Service Awards at halftime.
With a 37-year career defined by vision and loyalty to his alma mater, Narvel G. Weese Jr. (’83) earned the distinctive title of 2025 Outstanding Alumni, and Angela Williams (’92, ’94) is the recipient of the David W. Jacobs Lifetime Service Award.
Jackie Riggleman (’13, ’15) is the recipient of the Margaret Buchanan Cole Young Alumni Award, Donna Hoylman Peduto (’77, ‘80) the James R. McCartney Community Service Award, Terry Jackson (’11, ‘18) the Paul B. “Buck” Martin Values and Traditions Award, and Brian Rohrig (’08) the John F. Nicholas Jr. Award.
Dr. Clay Marsh (’81, ’85), chancellor and executive dean for WVU Health Sciences, served as the grand marshal for the annual Homecoming Parade Friday evening (Oct. 24).
