Wilmington drivers might notice a new bird in town; UNCW has its own license plate that now features the Seahawk logo.

According to the North Carolina DMV Web site, the state of North Carolina provides the public with a choice of approximately 100 different specialized license plates. Twenty of these represent colleges or universities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The specialized plates cost $25 annually, in addition to the regular license fee, or $55 if the driver wants the plate personalized. From that money, $15 from each plate comes back to the university.

“The revenue generated from this program comes back to support our scholarship program” said Todd Olesiuk, assistant director of alumni relations for the UNCW alumni association.

There are 15 alumni scholarships offered per year, each valued at $1,500.

Anyone interested in supporting UNCW while driving around town may do so by visiting the DMV’s Web site at http://www.ncdot.org/dmv. Just make sure to have your existing license plate number and title number handy.