Pat Swan-Brown (’74) flipped through the fall issue of Exemplar, quickly noting its disco-themed coverage of Homecoming, and then set the magazine aside. Only when friends and fellow alumni jokingly asked her to sign their copies did she realize what she had missed.

There on page 22 was a photo she had not seen in 35 years. “‘Oh my god’ was my first response,” said Swan-Brown, the 1972 Homecoming queen. “And then I said, ‘I can’t believe I overlooked myself! What a blast from the past!’”

The picture was one of three images selected randomly to illustrate the Flashback Homecoming theme. In her photo, she is being escorted across the field by a male cheerleader moments after being named queen. In winning the student vote that fall, Pat Swan became the first African-American student to be elected queen.

“It was a heartwarming and rewarding experience considering the atmosphere at EMU at that time,” said Swan-Brown, who still gets called “Queenie” by some of her older friends who remember her accomplishment that day.

She came to EMU to pursue a degree in teaching, but decided that her interests were elsewhere. While on campus, she was involved in a black theater ensemble, pledged Delta Sigma Theta sorority and worked the front desk at Buell Hall, among other activities.

While at Cass Tech High School, she stayed away from homecoming court pageantry. She was doing so again at EMU until the fall of 1972, when a friend, Bruce Morrow, now a judge in Detroit, approached her about seeking the crown. A group of African-American males who lived on campus interviewed several African-American females in hopes of selecting one to endorse and campaign for that fall. “We wanted to have a candidate to represent us,” she said.

The impetus for a black candidate was a by-product of the time, she said. The Detroit riots of 1967 were still fresh in people’s minds and the black student population on campus was relatively small and struggled to get proper recognition. (Today, about 18 percent of undergraduates are African-American.)

After a series of interviews, the informal group voted to endorse her candidacy, and started campaigning on her behalf. For Swan-Brown and the eventual two other finalists that year, the first big hurdle was a campus-wide screening competition. A panel of judges narrowed 11 semi-finalists to three, which would comprise the Homecoming Court. The competition was conducted in Roosevelt Hall and included a question-and-answer segment, talent competition (she performed a Chopin’s Polonaise) and a swimsuit competition.

“The swimsuits were straight from the Warner lockerroom,” she said, “and were actually the same ones used by the women’s swimming team. They weren’t revealing, but they weren’t flattering, either.”

Since 1976, she has worked at General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich., formerly owned by Chrysler Corporation-Detroit Tank Plant. Brown remains proud of accomplishment, but remembers it was some pain because of the racial undertones of the breakthrough achievement. Still, she enjoys reliving the day’s moments, especially participating in the morning parade and the open-air ride in a convertible around the stadium prior to the announcement to the student body. She’ll always remember the joy in her parents’ face as she met them after the crowning ceremony.