The College Democrats are organizing a trip to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a demonstration at President Bush's inauguration.

"Bush has come out and said he has a mandate to rule," College Democrats President Megan Green said.

"But the fact is that the election was so close that there are a lot of people who don't support his beliefs," she added.

Green said the point of the trip is to proclaim that if President Bush wants a mandate, he must reach out to people on the other side of the political spectrum.

The "counter-inaugural demonstration" is being sponsored by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.).

Bill Hackwell, spokesman for the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, said it's hard to gauge how many people will protest Thursday, but he's expecting tens of thousands.

"The anti-war sentiments are alive and well," Hackwell said. "There's going to be a lot of security, but I think people are determined to come out and have their message heard."

Hackwell said this is the first time in the history of inauguration ceremonies that an opposing group was granted a bleacher section.

College Republicans Chair Andy Banducci said it remains important to realize that Bush won the popular vote by more than 3 million votes, and the president would want all sides to come together for issues like Social Security reform.

"He does have a mandate to rule," Banducci said.

"If people want to protest, then it's their right," he added.

Leigh Patterson, a College Democrats member, said the event is not to protest or challenge the election results.

"We just want to make our presence known," Patterson said.

"We're going to be holding signs, but we're not going to be chanting, screaming and raucous."

Patterson and Green said the signs would be issue-oriented.

"The signs will be on issues like Social Security and certainly now the war in Iraq, after it was just announced that they ended the search for weapons of mass destruction," Green said.

The bus trip is open to all Penn State students, with a cost of $25.

A sign-up table for anyone interested will be set up next to the Sushi by Panda Express station in the HUB today and next week until Wednesday.