Colleges become ‘tag teams’ with popular alumni plates
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) – Some see it as a way to show their support for organizations they hold near and dear. Others see it as an inexpensive way to advertise their college or club.
No matter how they’re viewed, the state’s specialty license plates are popular and the list of approved organizations participating in the program grows each year.
Right now, there are 254 special organization plates available in Pennsylvania, a healthy amount compared to neighboring states – New York with 169, and New Jersey with just 42.
The majority of those in Pennsylvania, 78, are college or university related. Fire companies, ambulance associations and service organizations such as Kiwanis are also plentiful. Like Pennsylvania, both New York and New Jersey have Penn State University alumni plates.
At one point, the state required organizations to have a minimum of 300 people committed to purchasing the plate before they would be issued. Since the state dropped that requirement, more organizations have requested plates.
The plates are requested by the organizations and once approved by the state, requests for the plates are made to the groups, which then get a percentage of the plate’s cost.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation gets $20 and the organization can charge whatever additional cost they’d like and keep that total.
Misericordia University, for example, charges $30 for an MU plate. The state gets $20 and the university keeps $10.
Others see more of a profit, including Therapy Dogs United, which serves Erie and Crawford counties and charges $58 for one of its plates.
Not all groups see a profit, however. Art Keefer, with the Rimersburg, Clarion County-based United Bow Hunters of Pennsylvania, said members pay the basic $20 rate to get the tag. He said close to 1,000 have done so in the decade the plate’s been issued, including him.
“I finally found something that I thought enough about to spend the extra money,” Keefer said.
Rose Gryskevicz, who works in the alumni office at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, said the school started offering the alumni plates in 1996 after a big demand from alumni.
It was one of the first colleges in the state to begin offering an alumni plate.
“To have our name out there, it’s free advertising,” she said.
Denise Miscavage, director of alumni, community and donor relations at the Dallas Township-based Misericordia, said the plates are great ways for alumni and current students to proudly display where they attended college.
But from the university’s standpoint, they’re also excellent sources of publicity and marketing.
With thousands of motorists on the roads every day, Miscavage said there are plenty of opportunities for people to see the Misericordia name and perhaps be curious enough to gather more information about the school and maybe one day have the plate on the rear of their or their child’s vehicle.
Her husband Richard also has a Misericordia University specialty plate, which is kind of a vanity/specialty plate combo since she was able to select a certain number.
It bears the number 1022. That represents his basketball jersey numbers from when he played for St. Nicholas High School (10) and then for Luzerne County Community College (22).
Many local colleges have license plates bearing their logos. King’s, Wilkes, Marywood, Scranton and Misericordia are among the 78 colleges that have been issued specialty plates, including some that aren’t even based in Pennsylvania but have large number of alumni residing in the Keystone State. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio State, Marshall and Wisconsin are among them.
Other organizations with local members include the Fraternal Order of Police, Breast Cancer Coalition, Ducks Unlimited and the National Greyhound Adoption Program.
The first specialty license plate in Pennsylvania was issued in 1986, and it was the “Volunteer Fire Fighter” license plate. That plate is the third most popular of the 254, trailing only the Penn State Alumni Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Dupont Volunteer Hose Company Chief Don Hudzinski is one of the nearly 8,000 people in the state displaying the “Volunteer Fire Fighter” tag. He said when he turned 18 in 2001 and became a volunteer he signed up for one.
He said while it’s mostly something volunteers get for “identification purposes,” for him it’s also a way to “promote pride at being a fire fighter.”
The state also has “Special Fund License Plates” that raise money for different organizations.
Among these plates are Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), Conserve Wild Resources, Pennsylvania Zoological Council, and Preserve Our Heritage. Each was introduced in the late 1990s.
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Information from: Times Leader, http://www.timesleader.com
The Associated Press
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