Georgetown Dining will offer student section tickets to Georgetown men’s basketball games to students purchasing meal plans this fall.

As an incentive to encourage the use of meal plans, the first 30 juniors or seniors who purchase a meal plan between Aug. 29 and Sept. 12 will receive a student section ticket to the men’s basketball home opener.

Any student who purchases a meal plan and follows Georgetown Dining’s account on Instagram in that time period will also have a chance at winning a student season ticket package, which will be awarded to five winners.

Aramark and Georgetown Dining, in coordination with Georgetown Athletics, formulated the idea as a way to spur greater awareness and enthusiasm for both organizations.

Aramark Marketing Manager Adam Solloway said the idea came about last spring when he was planning marketing strategies for the upcoming fall semester.

“Georgetown Dining proposed the idea to the athletics department, and they thought it was a great idea to work together to build awareness of the offerings of both groups,” Solloway wrote in an email.

Solloway also emphasized how Georgetown Dining’s relationship with the athletics department has been a continuous one, leading to collaboration through a variety of venues.

“We’ve always worked very closely with [the] athletics [department] and continuously share a platform to communicate our services to students across campus, whether it be through social media, game-day tailgates or special events at [O’Donovan Dining Hall] or across campus,” Solloway wrote.

Solloway also said that Georgetown Dining hopes to incentivize upperclassmen to purchase meal plans through the giveaway.

“Upperclassmen typically seem to have schedules that are more varied with living arrangements, class schedules, internships and community engagement initiatives,” Solloway wrote. “We think the meal plans have a lot to offer students from a flexibility perspective, along with the ability to help out, as we do all of the shopping and cooking for students.”

Georgetown Dining has previously given away prizes to promote meal plans to upperclassmen.

“We always have some sort of appreciation prize.  In the past we gave away Google Chromecasts, CB2 gift cards and wireless routers,” Solloway wrote.

In contrast with past prizes, Solloway said that the prizes for this year were chosen with the goal of promoting campus unity and appealing to Georgetown students’ passion for athletics.

“Georgetown Dining and Aramark wanted to focus this semester’s incentive on the campus community and find something enjoyable and relatable to student life,” Solloway wrote. “We think students will be receptive to basketball tickets.”

Some students responded positively to the initiative.

“I already had a meal plan because of Chicken Finger Thursday, but I wish I would’ve signed up for it to qualify for the promotion,” Bianca DiSanto (MSB ’17) said.

However, the promotion was not enticing enough for some to purchase a meal plan.

“I’m still not going to buy a meal plan until Leo’s improves the quality of their produce,” Tatiana Shashou (MSB ’17) said.