Faryal Atif and Jack Smith will reign as queen and king of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s 2023 Homecoming.
Atif, Smith and the eight other members of the Homecoming Court will be presented during halftime of the Homecoming game. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will face the Georgia State Panthers at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Cajun Field. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Any registered student organization or athletic team could submit nominations for the court. A panel of faculty and staff members, student-athletes and student leaders interviewed applicants and assigned scores to each.
The 10 nominees with the highest scores became members of the court. The highest-scoring female and male applicants were Atif and Smith.
Faryal Atif, who is originally from Pakistan, is pursuing a master’s degree in English. She was nominated by the Graduate Student Organization.
Atif has served as International Student Council president, Graduate Student Organization vice president, a Presidential Student Ambassador and a UL LIFE Program mentor.
Atif is the daughter of Feroz Siddiqui and Nighat Feroz. Her husband is Dr. Syed Ali and she is the mother of Syed Jasim Ali and Syed Temur Ali.
Jack Smith is a senior from Lafayette majoring in chemistry. He was nominated by the Student Orientation Staff.
Smith has served on the executive board for the campus chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He has also served as chair of the University’s Presidential Student Ambassadors program. Smith represented the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences as an SGA senator.
He is the son of Scott Smith and Rachel Smith.
Here’s a look at the remaining 2023 Homecoming Court members.
Isaiah David Crawford is a junior from New Orleans majoring in kinesiology. The Royales Stomp and Shake Cheer Group nominated him.
He was a Reginald F. Lewis Scholar for the University of Louisiana System program and is a Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team member. Crawford earned the Student Leader of the Year Award from the Louisiana Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators.
His parents are Lasean Daniels and Bobby Crawford.
Gabe Cupstid is a senior from Youngsville, La., majoring in accounting. He was nominated by the Student Government Association.
Cupstid is SGA treasurer, a position that he also has held as a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. He has been a mentor for the Office of Orientation’s SOUL Camp and served as vice president of administration for the Interfraternity Council.
He is the son of Heidi and Victor Tucker.
Karessa De La Paz is a senior from Cabot, Arkansas, majoring in environmental science. The Ragin' Cajuns Student Supporters Organization nominated her.
She was selected for the Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program, which is designed to prepare students for graduate school. De La Paz has been SGA vice president. She has played saxophone in the Pride of Acadiana Marching Band.
De La Paz is the daughter of Conrado and Lori De La Paz.
Jordan Grider is a senior from Lafayette majoring in biology. He was nominated by the campus chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
Grider is the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences’ SGA president. He was one of two students to share the 2023 Outstanding Junior of the Year Award for the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership’s Ragin’ Recognition awards program.
His parents are Sydney Grider and Shelly Grider.
Ashley Danielle Levesque is a senior from Bossier City, La., majoring in mass communication. She was nominated by the Panhellenic Council.
Levesque has been the council’s vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Panhellenic Woman of the Year; a Presidential Student Ambassador; and a member of Tri Delta Sorority. Levesque is deputy chief justice for the judicial branch of the SGA.
Her parents are Terri and Joseph Levesque.
Adeline Miller is a senior from Breaux Bridge, La., majoring in business management. She was nominated by the UL Society of Human Resource Management.
Miller has served as the society’s president, and been an SGA senator for the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration. She has been a lead musician for two University ensembles, and toured internationally with the Cajun French band “Amis du Teche.”
Her parents are Brent and Laura Miller.
Caemon Scott is a junior from Lafayette majoring in strategic communication. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s track and field team nominated him.
Scott has served as the University’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president; on the Sun Belt Conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s executive board; and as SGA secretary for athletics.
He has earned all-conference honors three times and a No. 9 world ranking. His parents are Craig Scott and Anitra Ford-Scott.
Ta’la Spates is a senior from Baton Rouge majoring in nursing. She was nominated by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
As a member of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s track and field team, Spates has distinguished herself in both individual races and group relay races, and set records.
She serves as president of the University’s Black Student-Athlete Association. Spates is the daughter of Tia and Joseph Williams and Theus Spates.
Photo caption: Members of the 2023 Homecoming Court at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are, from left, Caemon Scott, Gabe Cupstid, Isaiah David Crawford, Jordan Grider, Jack Smith, Faryal Atif, Ta’la Spates, Adeline Miller, Ashley Danielle Levesque and Karessa De La Paz. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will face the Georgia State Panthers at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Cajun Field. ESPNU will televise the game. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / University of Louisiana at Lafayette