UNA Pressroom

Purple Reign Week: Una Calls On Local Businesses To Celebrate Opening Of Fall Athletic Season

Aug. 20, 2009



Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Lion football isn't the only University of North Alabama sport that will be in full swing after its first home game of the season Sept. 5. The weekend of Sept. 4 and 5 marks the first weekend of the season that all five of UNA's fall teams are scheduled to compete. Fall teams include football, men's and women's cross country, women's soccer and women's volleyball. To celebrate the packed weekend of Lion athletics, UNA is challenging Shoals area businesses to show their UNA spirit by being a part of Purple Reign Week. "The idea behind Purple Reign Week is to paint the town in UNA purple," said Alan Medders, UNA vice president for advancement. "UNA spirit should be shown boldly all over the Shoals area that week - in storefronts, along sidewalks, in our restaurants, everywhere." The competition Businesses participating in the Purple Reign Week challenge will be judged by the UNA Student Government Association beginning at 3 p.m. Sept. 4. Judging will be based on three criteria: When the business began decorating for Purple Reign Week, employee participation in showing UNA spirit, and best decoration. The winner will receive The winning business will receive 20 tickets to the Sept. 5 Lion football game against Carson-Newman College plus 20 tickets to the North Alabama Classic volleyball tournament in Flowers Hall. The winner will also receive breakfast Sept. 8, delivered by the UNA fall season coaching staff. How to enter Businesses competing in Purple Reign Week should enter by completing the form at www.una.edu/purple. That same Web site offers a downloadable coupon for 15 percent off of UNA decorations, apparel and other items at the UNA Campus Bookstore. The coupon is available to local businesses as well as all UNA fans and is good through the 2009-10 academic year. Purple Reign Week will include a variety of other community activities, including a pep rally at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 3 on E. Mobile Street in downtown Florence. All five fall athletic teams and coaches will be present for the pep rally. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.una.edu/purple, e-mail advancement@una.edu or call 256-765-4670.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.