Sustained by cans of Red Bull and joined by about 75 campaign volunteers across campus, UPUA presidential candidate Gavin Keirans said he hit the streets at 8 a.m.
Keirans (sophomore-business administration) has been stationed outside the HUB-Robeson Center for most of the day, canvassing voters for the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) election today.
"Really, we were the first ticket out," he said.
He said he has volunteers stationed in East, South and Pollock Halls as well.
Keiran's personalized campaign song blared from a boombox as Keirans and his green-clad supporters -- whom he calls "Gavin's Green Army" -- handed out bright green fliers to students passing by.
The song's lyrics include the line "Gav should have been prez all along / Gavin's taking over, man, like King Kong."
"We have the most ridiculous lyrics," Keirans said, laughing. He said the most important part of campaigning is connecting with voters.
"We drove a car around for an hour. It was pointless," he said. "It's all about communication. Unless students know what you're about, it's pointless."
Still, some of Keirans's campaign volunteers said many students they talked to didn't know that UPUA elections were being held today.
"A lot of people think we're, like, Democrats -- they're like, 'I've already registered,' " said Keirans campaign volunteer Jim Byrne (sophomore-business administration), who is also running for an off-campus representative position in UPUA.
Keirans will meet with the UPUA Elections Hearing Board at 9:30 tonight regarding a campaign violation filed against him. The violation concerns the price of T-shirts he purchased for his campaign.
"Because it's a wording issue, we want it to be interpreted by the Hearing Board," UPUA Internal Development Chairman Justin Waddell (senior-economics) said.
