By Katelyn Norris and Leah Wilkinson
This week, Knights Media Network spoke to the 2021 homecoming court and asked each the same three questions. The court consists of ten students: Juston Betz, Evelyn Cutting, Trey Grevious, Lizzie Hamilton, Maddie Horton, Katie Lagerstrom, Eli Lonneman, Grace Michels, Kelze’ Riley and Jordan Stacy.
Q: Why do you want to be Knight of Honor?
Juston Betz: “I want to be the Knight of Honor just because I’ve invested so much into Bellarmine throughout my four years and Bellarmine has also done a lot for me. I feel like the least I could’ve done in my time here was to try to make Bellarmine a better place, too. And I really care about the university, and I care about all my friends, my teammates, coaches, peers, professors, staff, even if it’s UDH or Palio staff.”
Evelyn Cutting: “I wanted to be Knight of Honor because I wanted people, underclassmen, to know that you don’t have to have an elected position to make a difference at Bellarmine. This is the biggest reason why.”
Trey Grevious: “I want to be the Knight of Honor because it would be a culmination of everything I’ve done over the last four years. I think also it would be a chance to see a different type of Knight of Honor. Obviously, with us going to a predominantly white institution and then also being LGBTQ+ is in the minority, it can give a lot of people hope that like ‘I can be a student leader. I can do these different types of things.’”
Lizzie Hamilton: “I think the biggest thing for me is I remember being in my first two years at Bellarmine and seeing people that I looked up to and mentored me become Knight of Honor. I wanted to be just like that. They were people who embodied what I thought Bellarmine was. I wanted to spend my four year at Bellarmine contributing in any way that I can.”
Maddie Horton: “I’ve touched so many facets of this campus that I feel like a lot of the student body can relate to. Even just the smallest things can make a difference in someone’s day. For example, I give campus tours and this one person, every day, was at this spot by the chapel. And he would shout at my tour ‘Go Bellarmine! Come here!’ And I asked him one day, ‘I appreciate you, but I’m just so curious about why you decided to stay here every day?’ and he’s like ‘Because you were my tour guide. I don’t know if you remember that, but you made me feel like this could be my home away from home.’”
Katie Lagerstrom: “I would have to say I would love to be Knight of Honor just because even when I first came here as a first-year, just kind of watching all the older students who have mentored me really follow their own path as student leaders and eventually become either Knight of Honor or on the court, and just seeing them talk about all that Bellarmine has done for them has really made me understand now what they were really talking about.”
Eli Lonneman: “Honestly, it’s just an honor to make it this far. Everyone who is on the court is incredibly deserving. I’m kind of still in shock that I was nominated — it’s such an honor. I’ve just put a lot of time into the Bellarmine community and to making it as sustainable as possible and just doing different things like that. It would really just be an honor and it would be really cool.”
Grace Michels: “I would like to be Knight of Honor just to pay back Bellarmine for what they have contributed to me. My professors and mentors here have really contributed to who I am. I want to be able to do this as a thank you and as a crowning achievement. This would be something to show to say I did this.”
Kelze’ Riley: “I would love to be the be Knight of Honor because I believe that I have had a lasting impact on Bellarmine students, faculty and staff. I live the mission and values and exude the Bellarmine spirit everywhere I go.”
Jordan Stacy: “I think being Knight of Honor would be a fantastic capstone and a fantastic way to say thank you to the Bellarmine community that has given so much to me. From the second I stepped foot on campus, professors, faculty and mentors have invested in me and helped me grow. I think it would a great public way to recognize them and say thank you. I also want to show the people that I am mentoring that they can do anything they want to do.”
Q: What does it mean to be Knight of Honor?
JB: “It definitely means that you stand for the core values that Bellarmine provides, and a few of those are stewardship, hospitality, intrinsic dignity and academic excellence, but just to really demonstrate those core values in all that you do, not just when you’re in the spotlight but when you’re on your own and you’re just by yourself at school, but just always making the right choices.”
EC: “It means that I am embody the mission of Bellarmine and that I am a leader. And not just at Bellarmine and all of us are just trying to better Bellarmine. We want to make the world we live in a better place. That sounds super cheesy, but I think that is the root of Knight of Honor.”
TG: “To be Knight of Honor to me I think would mean that everything I did was right. I think there are a lot of times as a student leader when you question ‘Did I make the right decision? Did I do as much as I could for the student body?’ And there are times — especially when hard things happen on campus — you beat yourself up because you’re like ‘Did I do enough? Are people gonna be happy with what I did?’”
LH: “It embodies a lot. Bellarmine has a lot of important values, and the mission of Bellarmine embodies a lot of things. Knight of Honor is being well- rounded and having all of that. I think it’s having those contributions you have made to Bellarmine. I think character is important too. You can be super involved and have all these achievements but also you live out the mission of what it means to be a Knight. You are not just cool on paper; but to make sure you are an inclusive person and socially responsible.”
MH: “I know so many amazing people applied and so many amazing people are on this court. And some people are like, ‘To get Knight of Honor, that’s like an affirmation that you made a difference here,’ but you don’t need that. I would obviously be so honored if I was chosen, but I just know that a Knight of Honor to me is that person who can genuinely build community wherever they go. They have that intrinsic ability to connect with people on an emotional level and to be relatable. The Knight of Honor to me is the physical embodiment of everything Bellarmine preaches.”
KL: “Even just looking back at my perception throughout my four years of the people who have become the Knight of Honor, there’s never been someone who I feel like is undeserving and I just feel like it’s someone who’s really given back to Bellarmine, whether or not that’s through their involvements or who they are as a person.”
EL: “I think it’s just someone who just really exemplifies what it means to be a Bellarmine student, so whoever wins, everyone on the court is extremely deserving and they would be someone who gives back to their community through community engagement, and academics are important to them, and I think they would be a kind person. I think everyone is extremely qualified, and I still can’t get over that I’m among such great people.”
GM: “Being Knight of Honor for me is to show what I am passionate about. It’s about their mission, the intrinsic value, integrity and the social responsibility. Being a person who has done all of those things. It is a person who best represents what Bellarmine is.”
KR: “To be Knight of Honor means that you have created lasting impact at Bellarmine that has contributed to the growth of other people. Even if I do not win, I know that I have made an impact – even being on the court means that BU recognizes what I have done. But it feels like the beginning to the conclusion of our four years.”
JS: “I think being Knight of Honor is one of the greatest honors that you can get at Bellarmine. Considering how amazing everyone on the court is, they have changed Bellarmine for the better. They are all really humble about it. I think being chosen as Knight of Honor would show that I have made a long-lasting change at Bellarmine.”
Q: What is one thing Bellarmine students might not know about you?
JB: “I would say the majority of students at Bellarmine don’t know how involved I am on campus. Basketball consumes a lot of the time I have, but I’m also on the Bellarmine Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, I’m the president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and then I’m involved with a bunch of different volunteer programs, most of them over in Southern Indiana where I’m from. I just love to be involved, and I love to help people who need it, especially younger students, because I know whenever I came in as a freshman I was one-tenth the person I am now.”
EC: “I have a service dog. His name is Clyde, and he is an English Bulldog. He doesn’t come to campus with me because I don’t need him during the day. If you know me, then you know Clyde. He is my buddy.”
TG: “One time Ariana Grande liked my Tweet.”
LH: “The most challenging part of my Bellarmine experience was my family moving to Charleston, which is 10 hours away. The only way I have been able to deal with that is I have an amazing support center here. I want people to know how much I appreciate them. It’s easy to feel alone sometimes. There are so many people here who may not have known the impact they have made on me.”
MH: “I would say I am not a traditional leader. I am not necessarily the leader that may be the head of all the organizations I may be a part of. I may not be the loudest person in the room, but something I really like to embody is modeling the way. I, ironically, didn’t see myself as a leader. When I came to Bellarmine, I checked ‘follower’ when they asked us about our leadership. I know a lot of people have reached out to me saying I was a great leader on campus, and I just found that so astonishing because I don’t always see myself as that. But you don’t have to have those formal titles to be a leader — just leading by example and people knowing that you’re just a genuine, authentic person is sometimes enough to get people to believe in what you’re passionate about.”
KL: “I love to cycle. I like to go to CycleBar, which is like my favorite thing in the world, which is an instructor-led class, so I do that pretty much every morning before I do anything else. I love to do yoga. I don’t have a membership anywhere, but I like to do it in a little living room. I also have Lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects the organs of the body.”
EL: “I actually have a twin sister. I think a lot of people don’t know that about me because she does not go here. She goes to the University of Dayton. She looks pretty much like me.”
GM: “I just want everyone to know how passionate I am about this. I am not in this for the title. I do it because it is my life. I am not going to stop doing this when I leave Bellarmine. This is going to be about how I conduct myself after.”
KR: “One thing Bellarmine students might not know about me is that I like Justin Bieber a lot.”
JS: “A lot of Bellarmine students don’t know the person I was before I came to Bellarmine. I was very shy and unsure of myself. Bellarmine brought me out of my shell. It has really made me into a supportive leader and someone who leads by example.”