AIKCU President Gary S. Cox presents Transylvania University President R. Owen Williams with the scholarship proceeds from Transy’s 2012 license plate sales. $10 from the sale of every institutional plate goes back to the campus for student scholarships.
Transylvania University has retained its hold on the AIKCU “Battle of the Bumpers” title as its alumni, faculty, staff and friends once again purchased more institutionally-branded Kentucky Independent Higher Education license plates in 2012 than any other Kentucky private college. This is the 5th consecutive year that Transy has won the AIKCU-sponsored contest.
Each Kentucky Independent Higher Education license plate on the road generates $10 for student scholarships. AIKCU President Gary S. Cox presented Transylvania President R. Owen Williams with a check for $9,010 — representing 901 total Transy plates sold in 2012 — during this week’s AIKCU Business Officers meeting at Transylvania.
While the Battle of the Bumpers is a friendly competition, our member campuses take the business of promoting their license plates quite seriously. In addition to raising money for student scholarships, the plates foster institutional pride and serve as a branding opportunity for the institution.
“Our office has worked very hard to bring that number up each year and keep the renewals going,” said Natasa Mongiardo, Transylvania’s director of alumni programs.
Transylvania regularly incorporates its license plate in its alumni communications to bolster sales of its plates. Ads regularly appear in the alumni magazine and alumni who live in Kentucky always receive a license plate postcard during their birth month reminding them to purchase or renew their Transy plate at their local County Clerk’s office.
Centre College finished second, Georgetown College was third, and Bellarmine University was fourth again this year. Overall, AIKCU distributed $47,900 in scholarship funds to our member institutions from 2012 license plate sales. The 4,790 plate sales in 2012 represented a 6 percent increase over the previous year and a 115 percent increase since the first Independent Higher Education license plates were issued in 2003.
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