The University of Maryland athletic department announced Wednesday a new initiative to offer two free tickets for a select home football game this fall to any faculty or staff member who receives a first or second vaccination dose between May 19 and June 30.
According to the department's website, the program supports a campus-wide effort to encourage vaccinations for every member of the campus community before the fall 2021 academic semester.
"As we look forward to the safe return of students, faculty and staff at Maryland, getting vaccinated is a critical step in a return to normalcy here on campus," Maryland athletic director Damon Evans said. "With that in mind, Maryland Athletics is contributing to the efforts by providing extra incentive to get vaccinated. As a sign of appreciation for helping to create a safe campus environment, we are offering two tickets for a Terps football game this fall. Let's make this happen together."
Maryland will play seven games at home this season for the first time since 2011, and Prince George's County has lifted all capacity restrictions. To qualify for the free tickets, UMD employees must attest to vaccinations on a daily symptom monitoring survey at return.umd.edu between May 18 and June 30, and authorize UMD to verify results via the state's vaccine database. After June 30, all eligible employees will receive an email from Maryland Athletics detailing how to redeem the free tickets.
On April 23, chancellor Jay Perman mandated that all faculty, staff and students at University System of Maryland institutions, including UMD, be vaccinated prior to the beginning of the fall 2021 academic semester.
"Vaccinating all faculty, staff and students is the single most effective way we can keep our community healthy this forthcoming semester," university president Darryll J. Pines said. "I would like to thank and commend Maryland Athletics for offering this incentive and for serving once again as an integral part of our University community."
