249 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT DESIGNED BY OLIVIA DUNN C H E C K M A T E Sophomore Erin Booher is named champion of Knight’s chess tournament and a Knight’s queen. IN SPRING 2021, men’s social club Knights hosted a chess tournament for women on campus titled “The Queen’s Gambit.” The winner of the tournament would be declared a new queen for the social club. Senior Nick Delepeña, a member of Knights, said the club was searching for an unusual way to find new queens and found inspiration in a Netflix series. “We wanted to do something unorthodox for queening, and we just happened to have been watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ before the executive meeting,” Delapeña said. Sophomore Erin Booher, a freshman at the time, was the winner of the tournament and queened immediately after the final round of the tournament was completed. Booher was not very familiar with the game but practiced in the weeks leading up to the tournament. “I vaguely knew the rules of chess, but hadn’t played since elementary school,” Booher said. “My friend Ashlyn Voss was really good at chess, so she said she would teach me the ropes. I didn’t expect to spend the week training, but the week before the tournament was the snow week. I played for a few hours every day, and I must have learned some strategy along the way.” Booher also mentioned that while she didn’t know all members of Knights, she had close relationships with a few members. “I didn’t know that many people, but I had a few good friends,” Booher said. “My boyfriend had just jumped to Knights that semester, and his cousin and friends were part of the club.” Booher was already well-known by some in Knights prior to her queening, making it feel more typical. “Many people already knew who Erin was before the tournament, so it was like a normal queening for us,” Delepeña said. Senior Eden Henderson, queened by Knights in fall 2019, knew Booher through women’s social club Zeta Rho and felt she was a perfect fit for the club. “Erin fit right in with Knights and the queens,” Henderson said. “She is such an important and special part of our group, and it is honestly hard to imagine Knights without Erin. The men of Knights have welcomed Erin with open arms, and in turn, she has invested in each one of them in a special way.” Booher also emphasized how the members of Knights made her feel welcomed into the club immediately after her queening. “I was nervous at first because I was just a freshman,” Booher said. “However, everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome and like I was already an important part of Knights. I am so thankful for the friends I’ve made in this club that reached out and befriended me right away.” WRITTEN BY BONNIE SPANN FIT FOR A QUEEN Sophomore Knight’s queen, Erin Booher, poses for a photo in The First Lady’s Garden. Booher was queened after winning men’s social club Knight’s chess tournament. Photo by: Julianne Baker
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