To help welcome incoming new students to campus for the fall 2025 semester, we are celebrating with a campus wide search for the Golden Cardinal! Somewhere on the U of A campus, we have hidden a 3-inch tall, 2-pound metal Golden Cardinal. 

Throughout A-Week (Aug. 11-15), a new clue will be published on the A-Week Website, bringing you one step closer to the hiding spot of the Golden Cardinal. There will be five clues total, and you'll have until Monday, Aug. 18, to find the Golden Cardinal and claim the prize. 

Speaking of prize, the finder of the Golden Cardinal will be able to keep the Golden Cardinal, win $100 Dining Dollars, $150 worth of Razorback merchandise from the Campus Bookstore, a signed basketball by Razorback basketball coach John Calipari and a flat-screen TV!

Before you get started, here are the rules and guidelines:

• Participation in the Golden Cardinal Search is limited to U of A first-year students. Non first-year students, faculty and staff are ineligible to participate.

• The Golden Cardinal will be hidden on U of A property and will not move. All five daily clues pertain to a single location where the Golden Cardinal is located.

• The contest participant who locates the Golden Cardinal no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, at  and returns it to the Student Engagement Office in Union A640 is the potential winner of the prize.

• No clues, nor the hiding place, require entry onto private property.

• A new clue will be published on the A-Week Website at approximately 9 a.m. beginning Monday, Aug. 11, and ending with the final clue on Friday, Aug. 15, unless the cardinal is found before then.

• The contest ends when the cardinal is found. If the cardinal is found and returned to claim the prize, the announcement of the search conclusion will be posted immediately on the A-Week website.

• The cardinal must be returned to the Student Engagement Office by 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, in Arkansas Union A640, or the prize will be forfeited. The person returning the cardinal must provide a valid UARK ID card and proof of fall 2025 enrollment.

• Participants who engage in unsportsmanlike, disruptive or abusive behavior will be disqualified at the discretion of the Office of Transition Programs & Initiatives.

• Anyone who damages, destroys or trespasses on public or private property will be disqualified from the contest and reported to the Office of Student Accountability.

Now that you know the rules, here is the first clue:

Clue 1

Welcome to campus, keep an eye out as you enter; 

Our Golden Cardinal is waiting right in A center. 

From learning- to game day, so much is waiting- 

Stay tuned for more clues, they get quite captivating! 

If you have any questions regarding the Golden Cardinal Search, please email Jonas Zabriskie at jezabris@uark.edu. Good luck!