There's only one place where you can find Sparty the mascot and an ice sculpture of "The Spartan."
And there's also only one place where students will be able to donate money to save the beloved statue.
The Student Alumni Foundation will play host to the two MSU icons, students, alumni, administrators and the band Brush Fire as part of the Save Our Sparty campaign.
The foundation's Winter Ball will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kellogg Center.
The event is part of a donation drive which needs to collect $500,000 to replace the terra-cotta statute of "The Spartan" with a bronze replica and move it back 50 feet from the intersection of Kalamazoo Street and Red Cedar Road.
The current statue, touted by the university as the world's largest free-standing ceramic statue, was built in the 1940s and is suffering from years of exposure to extreme weather conditions and vandalism.
ASMSU committed to donating $75,000 during the next three years and the Winter Ball will hopefully collect another $25,000 - making student donations 20 percent of the overall project funding.
ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.
"It's wonderful to have the students lead this effort," said Karen Wenk, director of development for Campus Park and Planning. "It adds a little bit of pressure for other donors."
The Student Alumni Foundation has been talking with several alumni groups because they want all Spartans to be a part of the Save Our Sparty campaign, Wenk said.
Funds will hopefully be raised in time to complete the bronze statue by the university's 150th birthday in 2005, she said.
No formal donations or pledges have been announced by other groups, but Wenk said she is confident the Winter Ball will come through with the extra funding.
ASMSU's donation is the only one the group has received so far.
"It will be a student event beyond other events," said Michael Hanak, Students for State director for the Student Alumni Foundation. "Students (can) chat around cocktail tables and dance the night away."
The evening will include appetizers, drinks, a commemorative gift and prize giveaways, he said.
Winter Ball tickets are available at the Student Alumni Foundation office, 333 Union. To charge by phone, call (517)355-4458.
