Cara Brooke Hatler is crowned Homecoming Queen during halftime of the UT Martin vs. Western Illinois football game on Oct. 11, 2025 at Hardy Graham Stadium in Martin, Tenn. (Pacer Photo / Kaniya Anthony)

The University of Tennessee at Martin crowned Cara Brooke Hatler as the 2025 Homecoming Queen during halftime of the UT Martin vs. Western Illinois football game on Oct. 11, 2025.  

Few people know the UT Martin community better than Hatler, a junior English legal studies major from Martin. Between being raised in Martin and having two UT Martin alumni as parents, the campus community has been a part of Hatler’s life for as long as she can remember. Her hometown connection to both the campus and the city of Martin makes the title of Homecoming Queen even more rewarding.   

“I think it means a lot more to me because I am from here,” said Hatler. “I’ve grown up watching [UT Martin] and coming to all the homecoming festivities because my parents are both proud alumni of UTM, so it just means the world to me that I get to be a part of something that I’ve grown up watching my entire life, and it just makes me love Martin even more, and I’ve really enjoyed being a student here.”  

Hatler ran as the representative from Alpha Omicron Pi, where she serves as the Matching Coordinator on the Membership Recruitment team. Being a member of AOII has given her a sisterhood of people who support her in her ambitions, and her homecoming campaign was no different.  

“…I think that really showed while I was running, that they were the first to stand up and help me, and they just supported me throughout the entire process,” Hatler said about the members of AOII. 

Hatler’s infectious personality and commitment to the chapter made her the perfect candidate to be the sponsor from AOII.  

“She was one of the first girls I got to know and became friends with. She’s all things kind and caring; whether I hadn’t seen her in three weeks or three days, she always goes out of her way to smile and say hey,” said Ceci Rodriguez, a junior public relations major from Spring Hill, Tennessee, who serves as the Vice President of Programming and Enrichment for AOII. “I think I can speak for the whole chapter of Tau Omicron when I say that we are so proud of her and her campaign this homecoming. She’s a beautiful representation of AOII and our values and our character, and I think she’s also a great representation of Martin, too.”  

“Cara Brooke just does so much in AOII,” said Mary Pitts, a veterinary technology major from Troy, Tennessee, who serves as the Vice President of Community Relations for AOII. “Anytime that we have community service events or we have any kind of … sisterhood or something that the chapter does, she’s usually there. She just likes to get super involved and do everything that she can for AOII, and we thought that she’d be a really great person to represent us this year.” 

After reflecting on the road to being crowned queen, Hatler is grateful for the chance she had to experience many of the different factors that make UT Martin the campus she’s loved for years.  

“I just really appreciate the opportunity to put myself out there; it was such a pleasure to get to meet a bunch of different people. I really got to see a bunch of different sides of UTM that I normally wouldn’t have, and I think that alone has just been awesome,” said Hatler. “I just really loved getting to meet everyone and just getting to be more involved in the campus.” 

With this year’s homecoming celebration falling into the middle of UT Martin’s 125th anniversary celebration, it seems right that this year’s homecoming queen is a true representation of the community surrounding both the city of Martin and the UT Martin campus, and that’s exactly what Hatler is.