Stephanie Vizachero of Macomb Township got more than she bargained for when she attended her first Wayne State University football game on Saturday, Oct. 14 – free tuition for a year.

“This was not only my first time going to the homecoming game, but my first time going to a football game (at Wayne State). I’m usually working weekends,” said Vizachero, 21, who marched in the homecoming parade – the largest parade in Detroit’s history – with her sorority sisters in the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority.

“It’s been a great experience. Wayne State has been doing a really good job of giving the university a campus feel,” Vizachero continued. “There was a lot more school spirit and student involvement this year.”

It was announced at the football game that Vizachero, a junior double-majoring in sports marketing and industrial design, won the grand prize during the university’s weeklong homecoming festivities. The free tuition is worth approximately $7,200. David Strauss, Wayne State dean of students, presented Vizachero with a giant check representing the tuition at halftime.

“My main reaction was disbelief,” said Vizachero. “I never won anything before in my life; I didn’t think I’d win this. It felt so surreal. I thought it was a dream, then realized it wasn’t. I was so excited. I was shaking when I got the check partly because I was freezing and partly because I was nervous.”

A 2004 alumna of Dakota High School in Macomb Township, Vizachero was active in sports, playing softball, basketball and volleyball. She was also active in student government, key club and the National Honors Society. She chose to attend Wayne State because of its renowned art program. After graduation, Vizachero would like to work for a professional sports team like the Detroit Tigers.

“I would like to design their merchandise and work in their publicity department,” said Vizachero. “I’ve been a Tigers fan since I was five.”
The free tuition comes at a good time for Vizachero, who is taking 15 credits this semester. She also works 20-25 hours a week at the Macomb Township Recreation Center and the Hard Rock Café in Detroit. It will allow her to move onto campus next year, and not take out more students loans since Vizachero pays for a good portion of her tuition. Her parents, Christopher and Debra, are helping her out, but they’re also paying for her brother Michael’s tuition at the University of Michigan and her sister Sarah’s tuition at a private school in Huntington Woods.

“I definitely feel blessed,” said Vizachero.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.