The lights of Morgan State University’s re-do coronation ceremony for the school’s royal court shone brightly on eager attendees Tuesday night.

Family, friends and fellow students gathered in the University Student Center to celebrate the crowning of campus kings and queens that will serve during the 2023-2024 academic year.

But, this coronation ball was held under untraditional circumstances. It was the second coronation ceremony this year–the annual celebration is usually held in October to kick off Homecoming week.

The previous ceremony on Oct. 3 had been cut short by sounds of gunshots in the Murphy Fine Arts Center where the event was held. Attendees immediately dispersed, cutting the coronation short. The incident gained national news and there was no word on if the ball would be rescheduled.

Until now.

The announcement of the impending coronation was sent via email on Monday, Dec. 4 to members of student organizations. It was said to be invite only with a required RSVP. In order to attend, students that received the invitation had to fill out an RSVP form with their first and last names along with the organization they were affiliated with.

Though the invite only prerequisite (coupled with the university’s finals week) provided for a lower turnout, some campus royalty were happy with the outcome.

“The turnout may be smaller, but this is the time we were supposed to have during Homecoming [and] everybody’s come from all over the state,” said Muhammad Zina, the current Mister Morgan Mile.

Zina said he is grateful for the chance to regain the sense of community that was lost with the Oct. 3 shooting.

“No one got to spend time with each other. A lot of people may have been scared from that event, so [coronation] is a nice way to end the semester.”

For Adrian Phillips, vice chair of the Campus Activities Board, Tuesday’s coronation was an act of unity for the Morgan community and a chance for normalcy.

“I think that this event is just saying that Morgan is never going to back down or stop doing what we usually and always do yearly and annually just because that [shooting] happened,” said Phillips.

Coronation is overseen by the Office of Student Life and Development, who were optimistic that the ceremony would provide students with the opportunity to have their annual coronation ball in spite of the shooting.

“This time it was even more wholesome,” said Tamia Loussaint, the university’s current Miss Sophomore. “I was able to feel more open and I felt my university’s love and support by being able to have this second opportunity before we go for break.”

Louissant said she felt more at ease with the event being invite only, adding it “Felt more intimate.” The student royalty did not have to rehearse their past performances, as they still remembered their instructions from the original coronation.

Smiles filled the room and attendees cheered for the kings and queens as they walked, arm and arm. Philips remains optimistic for further events to be held by the university.

“I definitely do feel like the sense of community has come back and we all [were able to] celebrate them before the holidays,” said Phillips.