Thursday, March 28, 2024

New plates show Spartans spirit

September 29, 2000

Spartan supporters will have a new way to show their school pride Monday.

MSU, along with 14 other Michigan universities, is featured on the newest design for Michigan license plates, which were unveiled Tuesday night.

The plates go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday and will add $35 to the regular vehicle registration fee, with $25 of the added cost going to the school’s funds. The plates can be renewed annually for an added $10, all of which goes to the university.

MSU President M. Peter McPherson said he expects the plates to be an effective fund-raising tool.

“This will be an important resource for the university,” he said. “We expect thousands of plates to be sold.”

McPherson isn’t the only one who expects the plates to sell well. MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said he expects the plates to be very popular with alumni and other Spartan supporters.

“I think this thing’s going to sell very well,” he said. “There’s a ground swell of support for the university right now.

“(MSU) is an institute people want to be identified with now and into the future.”

Despite featuring 15 different school names and logos, the plates have a uniform design. The background is white, the license numbers blue, and there is a blue bar across the top of the plate with the state’s name in white letters.

Elizabeth Boyd, spokeswoman for the secretary of state, said the uniform design was key.

“It was important to have that uniform look for law enforcement purposes. Law enforcement looks at plates differently than we do, they need to be able to see clearly what state the plates are from.”

The money raised from the sale of the plates will be forwarded to the schools after each fiscal quarter, four times a year.

Boyd stressed the secretary of state has no say in how the funds are appropriated.

“We will forward the revenue from the plates to the universities,” she said. “It’s up to the universities to decide how they will use that funding.”

Denbow said revenue from MSU plates will be treated like revenue from any other licensed product - half will go to the athletic scholarship fund, and half will go to the academic scholarship fund.

Collector versions of the plates with the slogan “Be True to Your School” are also going on sale for a one time fee of $35. The collector editions are not actual license plates and are for decorative purposes.

While collector plates must be ordered by fax or mail, the license plates can be ordered at any secretary of state branch office, by mail or by fax.

Order information will be mailed with all license plate renewal notices and can also be obtained from the secretary of state’s Web site: www.sos.state.mi.us.

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