N Club Gets New Home on Football Saturdays

Lincoln - The N Club, the University of Nebraska varsity letterwinners organization, will offer something new to former Husker letterwinners from all sports with the addition of a gathering place before every home football game this fall.

The new N Club Room just off the Southeast Corner of the field at Memorial Stadium will serve as a meeting place for all former letterwinners. The room, which also serves as the Huskers’ postgame media room, brings a sense of tradition alive with a giant wall-covering of Memorial Stadium and its updated number of NCAA-record consecutive sellouts, which stands at 262 entering the 2004 season opener against Western Illinois on Sept. 4.

"We wanted a place where members of the N Club could stop in and meet old friends before the game," Athletic Director Steve Pederson said. "We wanted to do something special to help all of our former athletes feel more at home when they come to Memorial Stadium, because it was their home when they were college students."

The N Club Room will open to all letterwinners as soon as the gates to Memorial Stadium open each home football Saturday, approximately 90 minutes before kickoff. N Club members and a guest will be admitted to the room by using their N Club All-Sports Pass, which also gains them admission to most of Nebraska’s varsity sporting events during the 2004-05 season, except for football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball. The room will be open to the N Club members until kickoff.

Along with the addition of the N Club Room for the 2004-05 academic year, Pederson also announced two other significant changes to the N Club.

First, former Husker McCathorn Clayton was named the new president of the N Club in July. Clayton lettered as a quarterback for the Huskers in 1985 and 1986, before moving to cornerback as a senior in 1987. Clayton came to Nebraska from Jones High School in Orlando, Fla., and is a sales professional in Omaha.

Clayton said he is eager to bring his enthusiasm to a leadership role for the N Club.

"I am very excited to take on this new role as the N Club President," Clayton said. "We’re in a changing time right now that is very positive for the University, and it is exciting to be a part of it. We want to make sure that the N Club is a true resource for all of our former letterwinners. We want to be a point of contact and communication link, not only with the University and the Athletic Department, but with the business community, fans and citizens throughout the state of Nebraska."

A second significant change will be the dropping of the annual dues requirement for N Club members. Previously, all former letterwinners were required to pay annual dues to receive the benefits of N Club membership.

Pederson said he hopes more former Huskers will take a more active role in the N Club by eliminating the dues requirement.

"I believe former student-athletes paid their dues to earn their letters," Pederson said. "Although the N Club does incur expenses, I feel the Athletic Department’s support of former student-athletes begins with the support of the N Club."