Tarleton crowns 2025 Mr. and Ms. TSU

BY MACKENZIE JOHNSON

Editor-in-Chief

In the town of Stephenville, a town recognized most for its four-legged residents and the owners who accompany them, the townsfolk who fill it are often more accustomed to the feeling of a cowboy hat or ball cap placed atop their heads than a crown.

Far from anything resembling a governing body that represents a monarchy, this fact isn’t questioned within the city’s limits. However, Tarleton State University is one entity in Stephenville that crowns royalty without fail every October in their homecoming court.

This year, it’s Tanner Wells and Dimitra Poulos feeling the unique honor of a crown placed atop their heads, earning the distinguished honor of 2025 Mr. and Ms. TSU.

Both seniors, Wells and Poulos have involvement during their years at Tarleton that is parallel to few others – a reflection of their nomination and win as homecoming king and queen.

Beyond Poulos, contenders for Ms. TSU were Shelby Sivadon, Heaven Chappell, Aza Rainey and Sydney Blankenship. While Jermy Greene, Colton Allen, Cole Sullivan and Josh Wagner were the running candidates for Mr. TSU.

The polls ran from October 10-16, with the Lighting of the Smokestack on Sunday, Oct. 12, marking both the start of homecoming and the announcement of the 2025 homecoming court. The Mr. and Ms. TSU were crowned at Saturday’s football game, a position Wells wouldn’t have even necessarily viewed himself as applicable for three years ago.

“I was very reserved and not very outgoing,” Wells said. “But when I came to Tarleton, my sister—who also went here—told me her biggest regret was not getting involved. She pushed me to participate as much as possible, so every opportunity that came my way, I just went for it. It’s a little weird being Mr. TSU because I never would have been that same person back in high school.”

Choosing Tarleton was an easy decision for Wells, and as a result, becoming actively involved in what the university had to offer followed suit.

“I’ve done everything I can,” Wells said. “But the main thing I got involved in was the TTM program, the Tarleton Transition Mentors. That really shaped who I am just as a leader and as a person. Going through it my freshman year and coming back as a second year and third year, that’s where I met some of my closest friends now.”

Being a TTM—a role focused on helping new Tarleton students learn the school’s traditions through Duck Camp—has also shaped Poulos’ life. Both Poulos and Wells have served on the program’s leadership team as well, further anchoring them in Texan soil – soil Poulos knew she belonged to from the first moment she stepped on campus.

“On a birthday trip of mine, I came up to Stephenville for a game day tour, and I just fell in love with it,” Poulos said. “There was something so surreal about coming onto a campus that only took ten minutes to get from one side to the other and hearing that there was a student-to-teacher ratio of 22 to one. I was just in awe of the traditions, and there was just something about it that felt like home.”

While Poulos was heavily involved in high school extracurriculars, packing her bags for college sparked a new sense of conviction and drive to expand her outreach even further.

“I’m a middle child, with two older sisters and two younger sisters, and I’m a first-gen college student,” Poulos said. “Going to college was something that was really important to me. I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to thrive in a place and grow in a place where my roots aren’t planted, but I didn’t want to go to a big university where my professor wasn’t going to know my name or I didn’t know who I was going to be sitting next to in class every day. I wanted somewhere that felt like home.”

As a first-generation college student, the early impact college had on Poulos was evident, but she didn’t want it to outshine the impact she hoped to make on the university.

“Education is the one thing that somebody can’t take away from you,” Poulos said. “It’s something that’s so important – being the creator of your own destiny in that sense. You’re responsible for your education, and that’s such an important gift and honor to have that responsibility. So after Duck Camp, I knew I was going to make the most of it. If something’s presented in front of me, I’m gonna take it, and I’m gonna run with it to the best of my ability.”

Her involvement over the last three years has spanned widely, including active memberships in Delta Phi Epsilon—where she held several coordination positions—Friendly Campus Club, Academic Affairs as vice president, Tarleton Serves, Tarleton Ambassadors as president and the Tarleton Recreation Center’s intramural sports program, where she worked as an admin.

Wells has also served his fraternity extensively, working as assistant recruitment chair for FarmHouse, a role that connected directly to his passion for enriching not only his own college experience but those of his peers.

“I hope I’ve shown people the light that Tarleton gives you and the opportunities that are here,” Wells said. “It’s not just to get a degree. It’s also to make long lasting connections and friendships… If you stay in your dorm, you need to get out of it. You need to go see different things and meet different people. And there’s a club for everyone here, there truly is.”

The choice of Wells as Mr. TSU is a testament to the impact of his mission, one he recognizes and is grateful for.

“Mr. TSU feels like my peers saying this guy has gone through Tarleton and done it the right way and made the most of his college experience,” Wells said. “I believe if you go to Tarleton, you have to get involved. That’s just one of the things that makes Tarleton truly special and a great place to be.”

The value of winning on a stage full of exceptional students isn’t lost on Poulos either, especially since she hadn’t planned to throw her name in the nomination hat until others encouraged her to.

“It was something so much more than being crowned Ms. TSU,” Poulos said. “There’s so many women on that court that are the epitome of what Tarleton stands for, so getting to be nominated was such an honor. This week truly showed me people that were in my corner and gave me the opportunity to meet people that I would not have known if it weren’t for this. And these are friendships and relationships that I’m gonna keep for a lifetime.”

While being voted homecoming king and queen is certainly a reflection of all Poulos and Wells have accomplished during their time within the open gates of Tarleton, they don’t want it to end with a title. With graduation approaching, the pair plans to continue their outreach in every way they can with the time they have left – a mission that would have endured, crowns or not.

“I always want to be able to say that I left something better than I found it – being able to know that I gave my all and I gave 110% to everything that I did while I was here,” Poulos said. “You’re not going to be great at everything, but I never want to look back and be an average human being. Kindness goes a long way and effort goes a long way. Every day, if you can put your best foot forward, put one foot in front of the other, that’s the impact.”