Uniting University of Colorado at Boulder students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community is the goal of a remarkably successful student-run campaign that has sold more than 13,500 gold T-shirts since 2004.
So far this year, CU-Boulder students have sold 4,500 of the Shoulder to Shoulder Gold Rush T-shirts and they hope to sell 10,000 by the end of this year.
The shirts will be available prior to the Sept. 9 football game versus Colorado State University in Denver and also at all CU-Boulder home games.
"There's been so much support and interest from people wanting to get involved with this," said graduate student Emily King, associate director of the Shoulder to Shoulder T-shirt campaign. "It's a tradition we're starting, and every year the shirts will have a different design created by students."
The Shoulder to Shoulder Gold Rush T-shirt Campaign is headed up by the CU-Boulder Residence Hall Association. The phrase Shoulder to Shoulder and the idea of creating the shirts was suggested by several spouses of CU football coaches.
In addition to fans attending home football games, the gold T-shirts are worn by the CU marching band at events other than football games, and also by student volunteers during freshman move-in, King said.
The Residence Hall Association took over the campaign from an outside vendor in 2005, enabling them to sell a short-sleeve shirt for $5 and a long-sleeve shirt for $7.
All profits from the sale of the T-shirts go to the Residence Hall Association's funding board to benefit all CU-Boulder students. More than $5,500 has been raised to date.
The T-shirts will be sold near the state Capitol at the start of the 8 a.m. "Game Ball Run" event prior to the CSU game. The shirts also will be sold on the lawn near the Sibell Wolle Fine Arts Building on campus Thursday, Sept. 7, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, Sept. 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. They normally will be sold every Thursday and Friday before home football games.
On game days, the T-shirts will be sold in the parking lot near the Duane Physics Building across from Folsom Field for two hours prior to kickoff. The shirts also are available at the Colorado Bookstore, 1111 Broadway, on the Hill in Boulder. The store provides all profits to CU-Boulder students.
Student group sponsors of the T-shirt campaign include the Residence Hall Association, Colorado Creed and Guidelines and Objectives on Responsible Drinking or G.O.R.D. Campus department sponsors include Housing and Dining Services, the Department of Athletics, Parent Relations, the Alumni Association and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
Updated information on T-shirt sale times and locations is available at cugoldrush.org. To contact the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Gold Rush T-shirt campaign e-mail info@cugoldrush.org.