Brent Tabor and Jennifer Broussard Degruise, Homecoming king and queen of 1997, reflect upon their experiences as Nicholls royalty with pride in themselves and their dedication to campus organizations. Degruise says being named Homecoming queen “topped the charts” and boosted her self-confidence.

“In high school, I hadn’t come out of my shell yet,” she says. “It was awesome to see how much I’d grown in four years.”

The organizations Degruise was a part of in college included Phi Mu, the Nicholls orientation team, Order of Omega and the Student Programming Association. She also served as the Nicholls Panhellenic Council president and as an education senator in the Student Government Association.

Degruise graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in 1994 and was nominated to the court by the Interfraternity Council.

Since graduating Nicholls with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1999, Degruise has had careers in education, public relations and marketing. In August she began her second year teaching first grade at East Houma Elementary School. She has become a Nicholls student again, working towards a master’s degree in counselor education.

Tabor’s dedication to campus organizations, especially SPA, earned him a nomination for Homecoming court. SPA, for which Tabor served as president, nominated him. Tabor says his best memories of college include his role in bringing quality entertainment to Nicholls. Some of the programming during that time consisted of the bands Little Texas, Candlebox, Cowboy Mouth and Seven Mary Three and the comedian Cory “Zooman” Miller.

Tabor says the highlight of his Homecoming experiences was spending time with the other members of the Homecoming court during the events leading up to Nicholls’ loss to McNeese State University, the same team the Colonels will play Saturday.

After the announcement was made crowning Tabor as king, he said he was proud to be elected to the court and to represent Nicholls.

Aside from SPA, Tabor was a member of Theta Xi Fraternity and Order of Omega. He served as a business administration senator for SGA, was named Mr. Nicholls in 1997 and was inducted into the Nicholls Hall of Fame the following year.

Tabor graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1998 and received his MBA from Nicholls in 2001. He works at T. Baker Smith in Houma as the company’s controller and chief financial officer. He also worked at the CPA firm Beyer, Stagni and Company for eight years.

Both Degruise and Tabor built their families close to home. Degruise, who on Saturday married Jared Degruise, lives in Gheens. Tabor lives in Houma with his wife, Diana Toups Tabor, daughter Alice and twin sons Jacob

and Nolen.

JENNIFER BROUSSARD DEGRUISE (File Photo)