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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Calling all Beavers, Ducks and Vikings: This Friday, Aug. 29, no less than the state governor is calling on you to wear your school colors as part of a new sartorial spirit campaign called "College Colors Fridays."

Oregon State University, Portland State University and the University of Oregon are all official participants. While Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proclamation is specific to this week, other officials are already working to build year-round support for the effort: Corvallis Mayor Charlie Tomlinson, for instance, has proclaimed College Colors Fridays for every week in the home city of Beaver Nation.

"This campaign is a great way to show your support for higher education in Oregon, no matter which university is your favorite," said OSU Vice President for University Advancement Luanne Lawrence. "Between us, the participating universities literally have tens of thousands of alumni in the Oregon work force and many times that number of supporters throughout the region. So we're hoping for a lot of good-natured rivalry as Beavers, Ducks and Vikings rally behind their universities."

College Colors Fridays is part of College Colors Day, a national campaign that features country singing star Toby Keith as spokesperson. In addition to Kulongoski, governors around the country - ranging from Washington's Christine Gregoire to Florida's Charlie Crist -- have issued supportive proclamations for College Colors Days in their respective states.

Two College Colors Day kick-off football games are being played this Thursday, Aug. 28: OSU at Stanford and North Carolina State and South Carolina. They'll be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN, respectively, with Rice hosting Southern Methodist University the following day (Aug. 29) in the College Colors Day Classic.

Organizers are also airing College Colors Day television ads on the ESPN networks, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC and other networks and stations.

"College Colors Day has been embraced by organizations, businesses, state governments, and most importantly, colleges and universities from across the country," said Kit Walsh, senior vice president of Marketing for The Collegiate Licensing Company, which is organizing the national campaign. "We hope College Colors Day becomes a lasting and memorable tradition for all participants for years to come."

For more information on OSU's participation or for contact information for organizers at Portland State or the University of Oregon, contact Melody Oldfield at 541-737-8956.