Sierra Club Sponsors Kentucky, Indiana Basketball Games To Promote Clean Energy

The Sierra Club, a national environmental group whose goal is to move the nation “away from using coal in favor of renewable forms of energy,” will sponsor Kentucky's men's basketball game against Arkansas on Jan. 17, according to Bill Estep of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. The organization also will sponsor Indiana’s game against Minnesota tonight. The two contests have been dubbed the “Sierra Club Clean Energy Match-Ups.” Sierra Club Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign Coordinator Kim Teplitzky said that the sponsorship of the UK game “will cost the Sierra Club $17,500.” The Sierra Club “will be featured on the cover of the UK-Arkansas game program and will get an advertisement during the radio broadcast.” Teplitzky said that the package also includes “mentions on the radio and at the game and the right to give students materials and put on the halftime show.” She added that the UK and IU games are “the first time the Sierra Club has sponsored college sporting events to get out its message.” Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett said that the Friends of Coal organization “was the signature sponsor of the UK-University of Louisville football and men's basketball games” earlier this academic year (KENTUCKY.com, 1/11). The sponsorship of the IU game cost $17,250. Teplitzky said that the sponsorships are “meant to support students on the two campuses who have been fighting university energy policies” (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 1/10).

FOR A GOOD CAUSE: In Green Bay, Hannah O’Brien noted the Univ. of Wisconsin-Green Bay men's basketball team “will suit up in a new color in February to raise awareness of cancer.” The team will begin wearing black jerseys Feb. 4 “as part of the Black Out Cancer Initiative, a collaboration between UW-Green Bay athletics, Bellin Health and Broadway Automotive.” The jerseys will be auctioned “to raise money for the Patient Assistance Fund at The Cancer TEAM at Bellin Health, which helps patients pay for cancer treatments and daily-living items” (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 1/11).