UI Students to be 'Gifted' by the Hawkeyes

June 13, 2009

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Students who will be enrolling at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2009 will receive a gift from the UI Athletics Department if they purchase season tickets for football and men’s basketball: Their choice of a black or silver lunch box.

A lunch box? Yep. A lunch box.

“It’s symbolic of the work and, more importantly, the fun they’re going to have for the next four years as students at the UI and as Hawkeyes. Sure, it’s a little different, but that’s OK. It’s meant to be different. It’s meant to be a little out of the ordinary and a lot of fun,” said Rick Klatt, associate athletics director for external affairs.

There’s much more to the lunch box than just the lunch box, Klatt said. Students who invest in the fun and excitement that comes with season tickets to the home events of the Iowa football and men’s basketball teams will also be rewarded with a long – and ever-growing – list of exclusive “benefits of ownership.”

“The games and the fun of sharing the experience of game days at Kinnick and Carver are the cornerstone benefits. Those events are a integral piece of the experience of being a Hawkeye, being a student at the UI,” said Klatt, who then rattled off the current list of benefits, all of which are free:

There’s much more to the lunch box than just the lunch box. Students who invest in the fun and excitement that comes with season tickets to the home events of the Iowa football and men’s basketball teams will also be rewarded with a long – and ever-growing – list of exclusive “benefits of ownership.”

  • One official Iowa Football 2009 Hawks Nest t-shirt
  • One official Iowa Basketball 2010 Hawks Nest t-shirt
  • One ticket to the inaugural FRYfest concert Friday, Sept.4, featuring Jake Owen, The Outlaws, and The Charlie Daniels Band
  • Invitations to a series of “Lunch Box Lectures,” the first of which is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, at historic Kinnick Stadium and will feature UI President Sally Mason and Tom Brands, head coach of the two-time defending national champion Iowa wresting team – after tours of the infamous “Pink Lockerroom” used by the visiting team and the Hawkeyes’ lockerroom, and “Iowa Football 101” – a tutorial on Iowa football, its history and traditions and how the student section at Kinnick has proven to be difference-makers for the home team
  • Invitations to a select group of “Lunch Box Events” and the chance to win everything from shopping trips to the Official Iowa Hawk Shop to a trip for two to the Iowa football team’s next bowl game for attending
  • Half-price membership in the UI Alumni Association’s “Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow” (STAT) program

“The Lunch Box Lecture series is going to be a lot of fun. We will always mix a little athletics with a little academics in a location on campus that is unique or special like Kinnick. In addition to be an very exclusive benefit of ownership, these events will serve as great introductions to our campus and our athletics programs for the newest members of the UI community,” said Klatt.

“We’ll also have some additions and surprises as the school year progresses,” he added.

Klatt said the lunch box will also serve as a physical reminder to the students of the many opportunities that they’ll have during their years on campus, a list that ranges from assisting with the reconstruction of pieces of the campus affected by the flood to helping UI teams compete for Big Ten Conference and NCAA championships to taking full advantage of the academic and community opportunities available to students at the UI.

“They’re about to embark on the best years of the life. They’ll make friendships that will last a lifetime, they’ll create the foundation upon which they’ll build their future, they’ll share experiences and create unforgettable memories and, of course, we’d like to think the Hawkeyes will be a part of all of this,” Klatt said.

Klatt said upperclassmen who purchase both football and men’s basketball season tickets will also receive a lunch box.” “The more the merrier,” he said.

Current and new-to the-UI this fall students can make their season ticket purchase online by clicking <>HERE. They can also visit the UI Athletics Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena or the UI Athletics Department tent on Hubbard Field during each of the nine 2009 Summer Orientation sessions to be staged by the UI Admissions Office in June and July.

Students or parents of students who have a question about the lunch box program should call the UI Sports Marketing Office at (319) 335-9431 or the UI Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800 IA-HAWKS.