Will.i.am, 'Fresh Prince' actress in UC Auditorium on Sunday
Students for Barack Obama are planning a different kind of voter registration drive to 'get it started.'
Black Eyed Peas performer Will.i.am and hip-hop artist and actress Tatyana Ali, known for her role as Ashley Banks in the '90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," will make an appearance at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.
"A couple of lucky kids are going to have celebrities come up and ask for them to vote," said College Democrats president and Lowell senior Karl Bouwhuis. "Ideally we would like to have every student registered to vote, but if we could get another thousand or two registered in the next couple weeks, that would be great."
Students for Barack Obama and the College Democrats have been hosting a registration drive during the last month and has added 2,000 new voters to the electorate.
The event is aimed at registering young voters on campus and in the area.
"Sen. Obama would not be this far along in the election process were it not for the youth vote," said president of Students for Barack Obama and Freeland senior Matthew Sous. "The youth vote got him through the primary. I believe the youth vote is going to get him the presidency as well."
Campus Conservatives filed a complaint to the Michigan Department of State, stating the rally will violate the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.
The law states public resources must not be used for partisan political purposes. Campus Conservatives claims because this is a rally for Sen. Obama, the campaign must pay to rent the room.
"The school could alleviate the situation by forcing the Obama campaign to pay for the facility," said Campus Conservatives spokesman and Topinabee senior Dennis Lennox II. "Instead, the Obama campaign broke the law by going through their student organization to get free access to the tax-payer funded facilities. It is a bit ironic for somebody who promises a new style of politics to be coming up with creative ways to break Michigan law."
Students for Barack Obama, a registered student organization, will use the room, free of charge, as allowed by the CMU policy.
"Any registered student organization has access to the space," said Building Director of the University Center Jim Burke. "There are no rules on how to use it."
Lennox did not contact the university, Students for Barack Obama or the Obama campaign before Campus Conservatives issued the complaint.
Sous said Lennox's claim is unjustified.
"This is just another one of Dennis' attempts to get himself in the news," Sous said. "He really doesn't care if he advances any type of agenda. He just wants to make a name for himself."
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