Kentucky Fried Chicken hosted a Welcome to College 2008 party in honor of its Colonel's Scholars scholarship recipients on the Plaza of the Americas on Tuesday.
At 5:30 p.m., about 50 UF students got a chance to eat free chicken as they passed by the party on the plaza.
The scholarship recipients, in red shirts bearing the words "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and a caricature of the Colonel, talked to students about the scholarship as they filled their plates.
KFC usually has send-off parties at the store locations in the hometowns of the recipients before they go to college, said Julie Arends, account executive at Weber Shandwick, the public relations firm for KFC.
"In this case we wanted to do a 'Welcome to College' party at UF because seven students who attend the university currently hold the scholarship," Arends said.
Loretta Rodriguez, a junior scholarship recipient, was chosen to help coordinate the event.
"They asked if I would help out, and I said I would pick up the posters," Rodriguez said. "That turned into getting the shirts and driving to get the chicken, fries and biscuits from the local KFC."
Rodriguez said one of the perks of the scholarship is that each of the recipients has a mentor who works for KFC Corp.
"I have grown very close to mine over the years," she said.
Andrew Cartas, a junior nuclear engineering student, attended the event.
"Activities like this on campus really bring light to the opportunities that are out there for students," Cartas said.
"They allow us to learn about organizations that might not normally get publicity."
