University News

Purple and Gold Points a Success in its First Year

June 9, 2026

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MACOMB, IL - Student engagement at Western Illinois University rose under the first year of the Purple & Gold Points program.

"It was exciting to see so many students get involved throughout the year and we hope to see it continue in the program's second year," WIU Office of Student Engagement (OSE) Director Nick Katz said.

The program, introduced August 2025, encourages students to attend a variety of registered events around campus to earn points and turn them in for prizes. Students were able to claim prizes such as giftcards, fidget toys, squishmallows and even a PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2.

The top events for students during the 2025-26 academic year were Rocky After Dark, the Family Day BBQ, Homecoming and the Westfest Concert with BigXthaPlug. Katz also noted the WIU involvement fairs are always well attended along with the Campus Wide Block Party. Students could also earn points by attending athletic events and educational speakers and workshops.

During the 2025-26 academic year, students checked in 27,855 times across events while during the 2024-25 academic year, students checked in only 17,090 times showing a 62.99% increase in student check-in across events on campus.

In total, students across campus earned over one million points during the first year of implementation with the top student earner collecting more than 12,000 points.

"Our team is currently working to improve the program for the next year," Katz said. "We are excited to see where students, faculty and staff take the program."

The Purple & Gold Points Programs was also recently featured in an article published by Modern Campus highlighting the growth in student engagement during the implementation year of the program.

The program will continue to grow in the 2026-27 academic year, with new events and expansion to the Quad Cities campus.

More information about the program, including prize details, participation guidelines and a student leaderboard, is available at wiu.edu/purple-and-gold-points. Events can be found at wiu.presence.io/events.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing