BIRMINGHAM – The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Toyota announced that Toyota will serve as title sponsor for the 2012 SWAC Football Championship at Monday’s annual SWAC Football Media Day.
“Toyota is excited to serve as title sponsor of the 2012 SWAC” stated Jim Colon, vice president of Toyota product communications for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “We look forward to continuing our dialogue with SWAC students and alumni who have been overwhelmingly receptive to our Toyota Green Initiative, an environmental education and action program for the African American community.
This year, Toyota will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2012 men’s football regular season and championship games. Toyota will also continue working with SWAC on its Toyota Green Initiative program. Since 2009, the Toyota Green Initiative has reached over 50 HBCU schools, campuses and events with a fully-immersive consumer experiential featuring a Toyota hybrid vehicle test drives, a simulated recycling center and eco-friendly games, prizes and exhibits. On select HBCU campuses the Toyota experiential display will include; an environmental service event and a ‘Toyota Green Lecture’ conducted by African American experts on environmental issues.
In 2011, Toyota served as the official automotive partner for SWAC. The Jackson State University was the SWAC affiliated HBCU campus with the most qualified promises on Toyotagreen.com and won a $1,000 scholarship endowment and $4,000 towards a campus greenhouse. SWAC students competed for prizes and to provide the best ideas on howto “green” their campuses in conjunction with TGI, with Tamika Smith of Jackson State University being voted as the Grand prize winner of a 2013 Toyota Prius because of her work in the Toyota Green Campus Contest.
Fellow SWAC student, Nara McCray of Alabama A&M University, was right on her heels as the contest runner up. Both students won a Toyota Tree Park for their respective campuses and will serve on the Toyota Green Initiative as student Coalition members to guide other HBCU students on how they can make a green difference on their campuses.
The SWAC is proud to have Toyota as the title sponsor for the SWAC 2012 Football Championship,” says Commissioner Duer Sharp. “We are excited to continue our relationship with Toyota and are looking forward to the championship in December.”
