The Recreation, Fitness and Wellness Center will give away free tickets and coupons to various activities and amenities in the Evansville area beginning this month. The program, pinned as Eagle Perks, is aimed to increase student engagement across the university.

“This is funded through the student activity fee,” Dave Enzler, director of recreation, fitness and wellness said.  “We will run this out of the (RFWC) but it is campus wide.”

Eagle Perks showcases a host of Evansville’s surrounding museums and events.

“From tickets to the zoo, the African American Museum, to free hayrides at Mayse Farm,” Enzler said, “We have something for everybody.”

Students can pick up their tickets from the RFWC during normal business hours,  with a student I.D. Only one ticket is available per student.

Enzler said an Oct. 21 Holiday World Trip is planned, with all expenses including admission and transportation paid for.

The House of Lecter, an Evansville-based haunted house which runs along the Olde Courthouse catacombs, will have coupons for single and double tickets.

“A year or so ago the institution raised the student activity fee,” Marcia Kiessling, associate provost for student affairs said. “We pulled a group of students together to meet in the Fall and early Spring semesters. We literally just brainstormed ideas until we had a final list.”

Kiessling said that the original plan was to build a bowling alley on campus, but those goals were not realistic.

“Students don’t always want to do a group activity, they might be in classes or at work,” Kiessling said. “We set (Eagle Perks) up in a way where it is not intended as a group effort, instead students and can take advantage of these opportunities on their own schedule.”

With the longest operating hours of any campus building, the RFWC was chosen simply because of the convenience, Kiessling said.  

“By listening to them, and implementing programs they helped craft, all with an opportunity to do something on their time,” Kiessling said. “This is a great demonstration of partnering with our students.”