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Spartan license plates to be sold in Texas

January 11, 2012

The Lone Star State is about to become a little more crowded with Spartan spirit.

Texans soon will be able to purchase official green and white state license plates featuring the Spartan helmet if state officials guarantee the official sale date of Feb. 15.

The offering comes after discussions between My Plates, a Texas-based specialty plate vendor, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and MSU alumni.

“Our goal at the MSU Alumni Association is to get the Spartan brand on every Spartan car, regardless of what state they live in,” said Scott Westerman, executive director of association. “Texas is just one stop on the way.”

Texas has the fifth-largest amount of MSU alumni in the U.S., according to data from the Office of Planning and Budgets.

Once the plates become available for sale, residents pay an annual fee of $55 to the state — typical for any customized plate in Texas — and the cost goes up if numbers and letters are personalized, said Christopher Horner, president of the MSU Dallas/Ft. Worth Alumni Club.

MSU will receive a 10 percent cut of each plate sold, he said.

Spartan-branded plates won’t be alone in Texas, as several other out-of-state schools have a presence on Texan vehicles, but so far about 223 people have registered interest in the plate on My Plates’ website even before their sale date, said Kim Miller Drummond, spokeswoman for the company.

“It’s really about finding ideas, concepts, images that appeal to all Texans,” Drummond said. “In the end, our program was to come up with revenue for the state.”

Some Texans have expressed resentment toward the out-of-state plates on local newspapers’ websites, but My Plates’ Facebook page mostly has positive comments toward the designs.

Back home in East Lansing, Bob Nelson runs and is the founding member of Spartan Plates — a group where more than 450 members show off their MSU pride.

To become a member of the club, one must have a plate that is personalized with a message about MSU — a standard Block S plate just won’t cut it, he said.

If people in Texas personalize their newly branded MSU plates, they can become members too, Nelson said.

Urban and regional planning sophomore James Xiang said having the choice to purchase plates with an out-of-state school is a cool opportunity.

“It’s a little weird but unique for them,” he said.

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