When students and Topper fans are tailgating or heading to the Homecoming game, they can stop by the Student Government Association’s tent on South Lawn and get a croakie.

A croakie is a strap that connects to the end of sunglasses so they can hang around someone’s neck.

SGA Administrative Vice President Devon Hilderbrandt said over the summer, SGA members looked to other universities such as the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University during a retreat for ideas. The other universities had given out pingpong balls, sunglasses and croakies and said the items were really popular.

“This is something that we wanted to try and see the kind of feedback it got, because this year, our main purpose was to get our name out there and really try to do some PR work,” Hilderbrandt said.

Hilderbrandt said croakies are “a different type of thing to do” and also less expensive than T-shirts and cups.

Each croakie will cost around 75 cents and about 250 croakies will be ordered total, Hilderbrandt said.

The bill the senate recently passed allocated up to $350 to spend on the croakies, Hilderbrandt said. SGA chose this as the base amount, but it is not likely that all of the allocated money will be spent.

SGA’s Public Relations Chairperson Cody Murphy said the SGA will be giving out croakies on South Lawn, as well as having SGA members hand them out as they go around campus.

Leftover croakies will probably be kept in the SGA office. When students come in for another reason, they can pick up croakies while in the office.

Murphy said that in the past, SGA has given out koozies and cups, which are things that can be used during tailgating. With the croakies, SGA wanted to again provide something that could be used during the game and while tailgating.

The croakies will be basic black with the SGA logo on in white, Hilderbrant said.

Jane Wood, SGA’s public relations director, said that one reason they chose croakies is because WKU is in the right region for them.

Croakies are a southern thing and WKU is in the right market for them, Wood said.

An additional reason for choosing croakies to hand out is every time students wear them, the SGA logo will continue to be seen, even after game day.