Wu makes debut on Kansas license plates

Wichita State University’s general scholarship fund is $15,000 richer, thanks to the hundreds of university supporters who’ve purchased special Kansas license plates that feature WSU’s mascot, WuShock. For the plates to be manufactured, an initial order of 500 had to be placed by the university with the state’s Division of Vehicles in Topeka.

Putting WSU over that 500 mark this week was alumnus and Wichita businessman E. George Fahnestock, who with the help of fellow alumnus Dave Anderson of Dealers Leasing in Wichita, bought 58 WSU tags for his company’s fleet of Fahnestock Heating & Air Conditioning vehicles.

“I’m excited about these tags,” Fahnestock said. “It’ll be fun having WuShock on our license plates. But what I’m really excited about is that every WSU tag that we’ll see on the road stands for a commitment, a fiscal commitment, to higher education at Wichita State.”

Participants in WSU’s license plate program agree to pay a $35 annual royalty payment to the WSU Alumni Association, the organization that administers the program for the university. Every dollar of the royalty fee, minus a nominal administrative fee of $5, is deposited directly into WSU’s general scholarship fund to help deserving students. The first deposit, for $15,000, represents support from the initial program participants.

The license plates will display the new “Power Wu” logo unveiled last year.

The new WSU tags, which cost in addition to the annual royalty fee a one-time manufacturing fee of $45, will be available at county treasurer’s offices across Kansas within six weeks, according to Division of Vehicles officials.

For those who ordered tags, show your “proof of purchase” certificate issued by the WSU Alumni Association when you visit the county treasurer’s office to apply or renew a license. For those who can’t wait until it’s time to renew, trade in your old tag and secure your new WuShock plate for a $3 transfer fee.

WSU is the third Kansas university to participate in the state’s license-plate-for-scholarships program. Created by the Kansas Legislature to help fill scholarship coffers at state institutions, the state-wide program has bolstered general scholarship funds at the University of Kansas by an estimated $42,615 and at Kansas State University by $58,500, according to Division of Vehicles figures.