Friday, December 02, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 2, 2005) - In a ceremony scheduled for Dec. 8 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., the East Tennessee State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will join with other ETSU officials and members of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce in the official ribbon cutting for the new East Tennessee State University Food Court at the Mall at Johnson City.

Shoppers at the Mall at Johnson City will be greeted with something new in the ETSU Food Court, as giant murals of students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as large banners spotlighting the university's 10 colleges will now adorn the area.

"This is a project that we have worked on for some time," said ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dave Mullins. "We know the importance of building our brand at ETSU, both as an university and as an athletic department. So many people in our community shop the Mall at Johnson City, the region's premier shopping destination with over 5.5 million visitors annually, it only made sense that we could reach those people with our message."

Marsha Hammond, marketing director at the Mall at Johnson City and an ETSU graduate, said the partnership is a good one.

"We're excited to see this happen," Hammond said. "Having ETSU sponsor the Food Court was an idea we had many months ago, and when we proposed the idea originally to Dave Mullins, ETSU's athletic director, he was enthusiastic and soon the project became the university's. They really saw the merit and grabbed the opportunity to get in front of the community in our environment."

ETSU faculty, staff, students and student-athletes will be present throughout the morning and early afternoon at tables in the new ETSU Food Court on Dec. 8.