Chelsea (Mich.) High School said that it had made the move to counter the stereotypes that it said accompanied the naming of a homecoming queen. In particular, school officials said that they were keen to address issues of bullying in the choosing of the homecoming queen.

The tradition at many American high schools is to name a homecoming queen, if not also a homecoming king, each year to coincide with the homecoming football game, itself an opportunity for alumni to return to their high school alma mater in order to help cheer on their team and to celebrate all-around school spirit.

The homecoming queen and homecoming king commonly wear crowns and are celebrated in a school parade and a ceremony at halftime of the annual game. The criteria for naming the queen (and king) have long resembled those of a beauty pageant or a popularity contest. Chelsea officials said that in recent years, students had nominated some students without their knowledge, as a cruel jest.

The Chelsea High School Student Council voted unanimously for the change. Among the new rules:

• Criteria for the new award included a student's academic, emotional, and social attributes.
• Each class nominated its own set of candidates
• A student who was nominated could withdraw his or her name from consideration
• Voting for an overall winner was by all students in the school. Accompanying each vote had to be a description of why the student was voting for that particular candidate.
• The winner, who could be either boy or girl, received not a crown but a plaque.

Winning the school's first Excellence Award was Jacqueline Taylor. A senior, Taylor is an athlete (both crew and cross country, for which she is team captain) a member of the Student Council, the Student Board Liaison for the school board, a church youth group leader, and a member of the National Honor Society. Her father, Adam Taylor, escorted her onto the high school football field during halftime of the game so she could accept the award. Taylor was named homecoming queen as a freshman.

Other nominees were:

• Freshman class: Erin Dusenbury, Lily June, Jessica Neff, and Evan Sing
• Sophomore class: Rachel Bareis, Jordan Fanslwer, Andrew Kowalski, and Peggy Smith
• Junior class: Kyra Van Batavia, Mallery Bee, Niko Fannin, and Will Scott
• Senior class: Briana Hay, Madilyn O'Hara, and Remy Sturt.

The change at Chelsea High School follows on from WhyYouMatter, a 2016 campaign started at the school in the wake of the deaths of three students in less than a year. That campaign (with which Taylor is also involved), in its second year, challenges students and teachers to work together to photograph every student and every teacher in the school, turning the photos into posters that also include each person's saying why they matter.

Other schools have since adopted the idea.

Another Michigan high school, Pinckney High School in Putnam Township, has also done away with the homecoming king and queen, instead instead announcing that it will hand out awards at homecoming to students who have displayed "good character."

As the name suggests, homecoming is an occasion for alumni of a school to return, in order to connect with other students and to reacquaint themselves with the school's traditions. Such celebrations began in the early 20th Century.