Wayne State and the other 14 state-supported public universities in Michigan will offer fund-raising license plates starting Monday, Oct. 2.

The Michigan Secretary of State New Center branch office on Woodward at West Grand Boulevard will serve as WSU's theme office and mark the occasion with a 10 a.m. ceremony featuring Wayne State President Irvin D. Reid. Staff members in the office will wear Wayne State colors, courtesy of WSU alumni relations staff, who also will decorate the office in WSU balloons and pennants.

Reid will sign special collector plates bearing the slogan "Be True to Your School"; the office will have 100 of those plates available for sale at a cost of $35. Taylor Lewis, WSU Alumni Association president, and Arthur Bryant, past president, will buy the first collector plates.

The charge includes a $10 service fee for production and distribution of the license plate and $25 for the university. After the New Center branch sells out of collector plates, they can be ordered at branch offices or by mail.

The $35 cost also applies to registered WSU license plates for vehicles and will be added to the annual vehicle registration fee charged to motorists. Those plates will be available only by placing orders at a branch office or by mail.

"This is a great way to support Wayne State University and to proclaim that support anywhere you go," Reid said. "It raises our university community building efforts to a statewide level among WSU friends and alumni."