CofC Students "Rock the Vote" Despite Big Name Cancellations
posted 4:49 pm Sat October 27, 2007 - Charleston
Students at the College of Charleston continued to "Rock the Vote" without native Charlestonian Stephen Colbert making an appearance.
The Comedy Central television host was supposed to hang out with students at the voter registration event, but cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. Colbert wasn't the only big name to bow out though.
The voter drive featured tables representing 13 candidates running for President of the United States. None of the candidates were expected to attend. The biggest attraction was MTV, and they didn't show up either.
"It really makes a difference to students when you see, or hear it's just the College of Charleston, or it's MTV," said Jared Esselman with the Political Science Club at the College of Charleston.
Esselman says the college had a contract with MTV to host the event. The cable network music channel was supposed to tape a show with one its VJs.
"It really killed the participation. A lot of people were looking forward to it. They were expecting it. It didn't make us happy that's for sure," added Esselman.
College of Charleston students missed out on MTV people, Stephen Colbert, and also the son of one of the presidential candidates. Scheduling conflicts forced Mitt Romney's son Craig to cancel the trip to the College of Charleston.
"Rock the Vote" started in 1990 as a way to engage young people in the political process by using entertainers.
Tiff Miller believes the headliners are not needed to encourage potential voters.
"Politics isn't about just the big name folks. It's a good thing to get people out, and interested in topics and things, but ultimately it's about the actual agenda and the actual issues," said Tiff Miller who attended the event.
The student organizations here expect to get a refund from the officials with "Rock the Vote." They say they'd rather not have the money. They'd much rather have the folks from "Rock the Vote" here helping with the event.
"We sponsored a lot of money for this event, and we will be getting it back. We'd rather have them though. We'd rather have MTV than the money."
Esselman says more than 200 potential voters made the event a success any way.
The Comedy Central television host was supposed to hang out with students at the voter registration event, but cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. Colbert wasn't the only big name to bow out though.
"It really makes a difference to students when you see, or hear it's just the College of Charleston, or it's MTV," said Jared Esselman with the Political Science Club at the College of Charleston.
Esselman says the college had a contract with MTV to host the event. The cable network music channel was supposed to tape a show with one its VJs."It really killed the participation. A lot of people were looking forward to it. They were expecting it. It didn't make us happy that's for sure," added Esselman.
College of Charleston students missed out on MTV people, Stephen Colbert, and also the son of one of the presidential candidates. Scheduling conflicts forced Mitt Romney's son Craig to cancel the trip to the College of Charleston.
"Rock the Vote" started in 1990 as a way to engage young people in the political process by using entertainers.
Tiff Miller believes the headliners are not needed to encourage potential voters.
"Politics isn't about just the big name folks. It's a good thing to get people out, and interested in topics and things, but ultimately it's about the actual agenda and the actual issues," said Tiff Miller who attended the event.
The student organizations here expect to get a refund from the officials with "Rock the Vote." They say they'd rather not have the money. They'd much rather have the folks from "Rock the Vote" here helping with the event.
"We sponsored a lot of money for this event, and we will be getting it back. We'd rather have them though. We'd rather have MTV than the money."
Esselman says more than 200 potential voters made the event a success any way.
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