It would be good to be king.
So thought David Skoke, who walks the grounds of Georgia Perimeter College's Dunwoody campus among students who are half -- in some cases a third -- his age. He enrolled four years ago not necessarily in pursuit of a degree, but to reclaim the education he cheated himself out of a generation ago when, let's be honest, he pretty much majored in partying.
"My first time around, I wasn't serious at all," said Skoke, 61. "I was more interested in having fun."
These days, he shows up prepared, seeks tutoring after class and gets involved in classroom discussion. He's taken courses in astronomy, world history, chemistry, public speaking and survival techniques.
"My GPA is 3.4 or 3.5," said Skoke, a self-employed stockbroker who's also worked in sales. "I want to do well. I don't hang out with the kids, but I get along with all the kids here. I can talk to pretty much anyone. I've been a salesman my whole life."
So when an email from the college arrived inviting students to put themselves up for homecoming king, he thought, why not?
"If I get elected, fine," he said during an interview a few days before the results were announced. "If not, I've had a lot of fun."
Although he entered the contest as a lark, Skoke campaigned in earnest. He made a T-shirt and wore it around campus. He posted signs all over the place that told his story, explaining that even though he blew off college the first time, he's enjoyed a successful career and volunteers in the community with organizations such as Hosea Feed the Hungry. His campaign slogan: "Make an old guy happy: Vote for me!"
Skoke didn't have an actual campaign committee, but if he had, Nneka Malcolm, 20 and Matilah Warfield and Andrea Almeida, both 25, might have served on it.
"He's going to school just to be intelligent," Malcolm noted before a chemistry lab the other day.
"Never stop learning," chimed in Warfield. "Go, David!"
"I've been supporting him in his run for homecoming king," Almeida said. "Once I found out he was such a great candidate I told everyone in my political science class. Everyone was pretty impressed."
"Wow," Skoke said. "Thank you."
Marie Ibrahim, 19, sounded like an undecided voter grilling a candidate on the stump.
"How old are you?" she asked. When he told her, she sounded won over. "I think it's actually really cool that you're running for homecoming king. You're older than my parents, but you act a lot younger than they do."
Chemistry instructor Jim Koen, who must, of course, be impartial, said Skoke is a good student who shows up ready for class.
"Sometimes you run across students who are really focused," Koen said.
In the days before the results were announced via email, Skoke realized his quest was beginning to mean something. A twice-divorced Cleveland native who moved to Atlanta in 1981, he never viewed running as a means to meet women, but a friend who posted a blog in support of his candidacy set up him with a friend of hers. And he became something of a big man on campus.
"I did this just as a joke but it got kind of cool," Skoke said. "Professors I didn't even know were coming up to me. The students are all so nice to me. I've met some administrators. I'm meeting all these people I never would have. When I went to Ohio State I was a number. I feel like I belong here."
Georgia Perimeter College, which is part of the University of Georgia system, offers associate degrees and professional certificate programs and operates on five metro Atlanta campuses. Each will host various homecoming festivities leading up to the grand celebration, a masquerade ball to be held Nov. 12 at the Omni Hotel downtown.
Skoke won't be there. He didn't win.
"I was kind of hoping to be king," he said. He's asked for voting totals, not because he suspects a miscount but because he wants to know how close he came. With next semester on the horizon, he's begun thinking about firming up his plans for his college degree. "My adviser said, let's just a pick out a major," said Skoke, who's considering environmental science or physical therapy.
And he's begun thinking about moving on, possibly transferring to Georgia State University, where his daughter Sarah is a junior. Georgia State has a football team now, you know. When Skoke gets there, if he gets there, they'll need a homecoming king.
