Athletic Marketing and Promotions and the Office of Student Affairs have teamed up to plan and implement a Gold Rush for the freshman class Thursday prior to the home opener football game against Union College.
“We wanted to start a new tradition at football and create something that makes a unique climate across campus uniting the freshmen,” Marketing and Promotions Assistant Amy Pulpaneck said.
First Year Leaders will meet their freshmen at the baseball field starting at 6 p.m. Thursday to pick up one of 1,000 gold T-shirts on a first come, first serve basis. Fifteen minutes before kickoff, President Bob Davies will rush onto the field with the participating freshmen, where they will then sit in the endzone to watch the game.
“Dr. Davies will lead the whole mob down to the horse gate,” Pulpaneck said. “Logan Stout will get on the mic and introduce the class of 2018 and the new president, and then they get to hang out in the end zone for the game. We’ll have some bleachers down there, gold balloons and various promotions to keep them excited.
“It’s something that’s exclusive for them. They get to come out and make a statement that they’re here. It’s great having Dr. Davies, being as this is his first year, so he’s kind of been calling himself a freshman as well.”
Throughout the week, other promotions will be going on all over campus, including a Gold Rush Wagon that will offer food discounts at surprise locations.
“They said, ‘Would this be something that you’d be willing to do?’” Davies said. “And I said ‘Absolutely!’ I think getting students involved and being a part of the student celebration, to me it’s a no-brainer. To me, it’s part of the excitement. I know I’m going to have fun running across the field with the freshman class. I hope they don’t run over me.”
“I hope they tell their friends: ‘Hey, I ran across the field with my president, ain’t that great?’” Davies said. “Hopefully what that will lead to is sometime in December when one of those students is struggling a little bit and I see them that they feel comfortable talking to me. I hope they feel comfortably in three years when they’re looking for an internship and we’ve had enough conversations that I can serve as a reference. To me, that’s part of being a university president, and if I can assist in that and it starts off with running across the field with them, so be it. I’m just worried about carrying the flag.”
Story by Mallory Tucker, Sports Editor