Nearly four years after their Homecoming crowning, A&M University-Commerce graduates and good friends, Adrian Brown and Marlonda Malcolm, still address each other as “King” and “Queen.”
Twenty-seven year old Malcolm was born in Fort Hood, but raised in Garland.
After graduating from Lakeview Centennial High School in 1998, she attended Richland junior college for two years. In the fall of 2001, she began taking courses at A&M-C.
Brown, 25, was born in Dallas and graduated from Duncanville High School in 2000.
He followed his two cousins who were attending A&M-C and began his first semester during the fall of that year.
One year later, Brown was initiated into the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity where he served as secretary and was named vice president.
He became the president of the NAACP on campus for two years. Brown worked closely with the staff as they participated in voter registration, fed the homeless in Dallas and participated in a highway clean up.
“I pretty much participated in all the activities,” Brown said. “It was my way of getting myself out there to meet other people.”
He was also part of the schools’ orientation team and became a mentor to incoming freshmen.
“Some of those freshmen I met are now about to graduate and I still keep in touch with them,” Brown said.
Despite his various campus involvements, Brown managed to keep his GPA almost at 3.0.
Malcolm met Brown their first year at A&M-Commerce through their involvement in NAACP.
Malcolm was studying radio, television and film and participated in numerous activities within her department.
“I pretty much slept in the RTV building,” Malcolm said. “Every semester, I either directed or hosted a show or was the behind the scenes person. I didn’t have much time on my hands for much else, besides NAACP.”
In 2003, the NAACP on campus sponsored the two as they ran for homecoming court.
The organization helped with their campaign by designing marquees and putting the word out about their running.
“We had slogans like ‘Put the crown on Malcolm and Brown,'” Brown said. “When I think about it now it was kind of corny, but it worked.”
Although many of the contestants ran separately, Malcolm and Brown ran as a team.
During the week of voting, the pair went to each sorority house and visited each resident hall to promote themselves.
“I’ll never forget it because it was so cold outside,” Malcolm said. “But we tried our best to make a connection with the student body, even though we weren’t sure if we were going to win. It was so much fun.”
The night before the results, Malcolm had a get together at her house.
“We had a fish fry and people didn’t leave until 5am the next morning,” Malcolm said. “And Adrian and I had a breakfast that morning.”
Knees shaking and extremely nervous, the two awaited the results. Malcolm was the first to be called.
“When they said Marlonda’s name first, I didn’t automatically think, ‘Ok, they’re gonna call my name,'” Brown said. “When they called my name, I was shocked.”
Brown was crowned by one of his fraternity brothers.
“He told me later he was trying to get my attention when they called my name,” Brown said. “But I wasn’t paying any attention.”
Malcolm and Brown both cherish their crowns.
“I still have my crown and it’s displayed on my mantle at home,” Malcolm said. “I cherish it very much and I still have the framed picture of Adrian and me next to my sash.”
Since their graduations, they have kept busy schedules and still communicate at least every other week.
Brown graduated in May 2005 with a general business administration degree and is working for countrywide loans as a title operations technician.
“I basically get documents together for attorneys for people whose homes are about to be foreclosed,” Brown said. “I’ve been working there close to two years.”
Both look forward to attending the 2007 Homecoming festivities.
“I actually come back every year for homecoming,” he said. “I like to support the guys in my fraternity who are currently on campus.”
After graduation, Malcolm began working for a real estate firm in Dallas.
Later she joined the promotions department of radio station 106.1 KISS FM in Dallas.
She has been seen in the station vans giving away prizes at special events and has rubbed elbows with various celebrities.
“I have met Christina Milian, Rhianna, James Blunt, Timbaland, Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas,” Malcolm said. “It’s just some of the perks of the job and I love it.”
Malcolm has helped four other A&M-C students on the staff and all work together.
Currently, Malcolm works part-time at the radio station and has worked in the recruitment offices of University of Texas at Dallas and A&M-Commerce.
Malcolm was pictured in the 2004 April edition of Ebony Magazine, which displayed all the African American queens in the nation.
“It was an honor and privilege to represent A&M-Commerce,” Malcolm said. “Having my pictured displayed showed our school existed.”
Both winners were very fond of each other and look forward to attending the 2007 Homecoming festivities.
“It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Malcolm said. “Adrian will always be my king, and I’ll always be his queen.”