The University of Nebraska Alumni Association is providing a haven for football fans visiting campus on Friday afternoons.

CONCIERGE SERVICE – Sharlette Schwenninger of the University of Nebraska Alumni Association gives directions to Travis Hundley, a visiting Virginia Tech fan, during the Sept. 26 Campus Concierge event at the Wick Alumni Center. Campus Concierge is offered by the Alumni Association each Friday before a home football game.

From 1 to 5 p.m. each Friday before a home football Saturday, the Alumni Association is hosting “Campus Concierge,” a first-year program that offers guided tours and campus event information to visitors. The program – which is open to anyone, from alumni and visiting fans to faculty, staff and students – is the idea of Sharlette Schwenninger, a staff member with the Alumni Association.

Schwenninger said the idea came from her own experiences as an alumna coming back to campus for gameday weekends.

“We would get into town and want to come to campus, but we just didn’t know where to go or what was available,” said Schwenninger. “Campus Concierge provides a place to come, hang out and learn about campus.”

Campus Concierge is held in the Holling Garden, next to the Wick Alumni Center. Booths are set up offering guided tour opportunities, representatives from each of UNL’s eight colleges, chances to volunteer through the Alumni Association, flyers featuring campus events and places to visit that weekend, purchases from the N Shop, and free Nebraska-grown popcorn and Pepsi products.

TALKING SHOP – UNL alumnus Loren Murfield and his wife, Lisa, talk with Vi Schroeder, logo and design compliance specialist, at the N Shop booth during Campus Concierge.

The event has been promoted through Alumni Association publications, local hotels and via students greeting Friday-morning flights at the Lincoln Airport.

“We’re just getting this concept off the ground this year,” said Schwenninger. “We have had enthusiastic support from UNL’s colleges and organizations.”

Campus visitors also appreciate the campus concierge event.

“We were driving by, saw the sign and decided we should stop after a visit to the University Bookstore,” said Loren Murfield. “This is a great idea – especially when it pulls people to the Alumni Center. We were given some good information on things we would have missed out on.”

Murfield, a UNL alumnus from Odessa, Fla., was on campus with his wife, Lisa, for the Sept. 27 Virginia Tech game.

After signing up for the guided campus tour, one Virginia Tech fan thought Campus Concierge should be copied.

“When we go to an away game, we always try and tour the campus,” said Jennifer Hundley, as her husband Travis talked with Schwenninger. “But this goes above and beyond anything we’ve experienced. It is the kind of thing that would benefit other universities.”

Campus Concierge events are 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 3, Oct. 24 and Nov. 7. For more information, go to www.huskeralum.com.