HBCUs Figure In Obama’s Campaign Strategy

Black College Wire reports:

In South Carolina, the Obama campaign hired a youth vote coordinator, Elizabeth Wilkins, whose main focus is to mobilize students statewide. She helped coordinate a step show and voter registration drive.

“The campaign’s dedication to engaging historically black institutions isn’t limited to the early states but also reaches to all HBCUs in states that have primaries on Feb. 5,” Super Tuesday, Tolliver said.

These schools include Howard, Florida A&M, Clark Atlanta and Hampton universities, and Morehouse and Spelman colleges.

“Our national campaign organizers went to Georgia to instruct Camp Obama training seminars in schools like Morris Brown and invited students from all other HBCUs,” Tolliver said.

He said Students for Barack Obama, Generation Obama, Camp Obama, My.BarackObama.com, and other initiatives bring in tens of thousands of young people across the country as activists.

Almost 20 historically black institutions have “Students for Barack Obama” chapters. Overall, there are nearly 500 such chapters across the country.

Students for Barack Obama is the official student wing of the campaign. It is a national movement of students at every school level, particularly college. It was founded by students.

Official chapters are on such campuses as Prairie View A & M University in Texas, Spelman in Atlanta, Hampton in Virginia and Benedict College in South Carolina.

Charli Cooksey, a political science major from St. Louis, is the official campus coordinator for Prairie View A&M.

“Our purpose it to get 20 percent of the student body registered to vote and pledge to vote for Barack Obama,” she said. “We plan to do this through forums, social events, and educating people on why they should vote for Obama.”

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