The end of the semester is quickly approaching, and soon Bramlage Coliseum will be lacking student support since most will be home.
To make up for the lack of support during the Christmas break, the K-State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is encouraging students with men’s basketball tickets to donate their tickets to soldiers at Fort Riley for the Dec. 20 game against Centenary.
“We’ve been very disappointed in student attendance for games during the holiday break,” said Joni Smoller, assistant director of marketing and promotions for the K-State athletics department. “We wanted to give coach Martin’s team the best possible atmosphere for their home games, as well as offering members of the Fort Riley community an opportunity to experience K-State basketball first hand.”
This promotion came from the partnership that the basketball team has with the 1-7 Field Artillery unit, which is currently serving in Iraq, Smoller said.
The game against Centenary is the only game where students have this kind of opportunity to donate their tickets.
“We are looking for 2,000 tickets,” Smoller said. “We’ve got some room to make up to reach that number before the December 1st deadline, so students have less than two weeks to donate and help us reach our goal.”
There are several ways for the students to donate their tickets.
“Students get the ticket in their email so, the easiest way to donate would be to forward the email to wildcatfans@ksu.edu,” Smoller said.
Students can also print their tickets and drop them off at the Athletic Ticket Office in the Bramlage Coliseum between business hours, Monday through Friday.
Students can also bring tickets to any men’s or women’s basketball games before Dec. 1 — a collection table will be set up at the southeast entrance.
There will also be a table in the K-State Student Union from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this week, where students can bring or print their tickets. Many soldiers will be stuck at Fort Riley and will be unable to see their families over the holidays.
“The soldiers and family members of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley truly appreciate the wonderful relationship we have with Kansas State University,” said Maj. Nathan Bond, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for the 1st Infantry Division. “Tickets for football games, volleyball matches and basketball games are just some of the remarkable ways K-State’s students, faculty and administration support their Army, and we can’t say thank you enough.”