Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be king of the prom tonight, as the Penn State College Democrats celebrate the end of their push to register voters at "oPROMa."
Obama supporters at Penn State are looking forward to the event and to hearing a yet-to-be-disclosed guest speaker. Sean Meloy, president of the College Democrats, said the event is an opportunity for people to dance, eat and socialize.
The dance comes after months of effort to register new voters, an endeavor that contributed to Centre County reaching a record number of registered voters.
"It's just something fun where people can unwind after voter registration," Meloy said.
The event will be held from 8:30 to 11:30 tonight at the Atherton Hotel, 125 S. Atherton St., Meloy said. oPROMa is open to the public and tickets, which are $15, are available at the Obama headquarters, 224. S. Allen St., he added. The dress is semiformal.
Jony Rommel, a State College resident and intern for the Obama campaign, said she plans to wear a black dress with a pink sash that has been in her closet since her cousin's wedding last summer.
"This would be a great time to break it out again," she said.
Rommel said the event is something to give back to volunteers, and they're hoping for about 200 attendees to celebrate voter registration efforts.
"It'll be fun to see everyone dressed up," she said, adding people have been getting excited and are looking forward to the event.
Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, and Joanne Tosti-Vasey, Democratic candidate for the 171st District, will also be there, Meloy said.
Tor Michaels, Conklin's chief of staff, said that being in touch with the collegiate community is really important.
"Anytime Rep. Conklin has a chance to meet young voters and young people he leaps at the opportunity," Michaels said.
Tosti-Vasey said she would attend oPROMa to celebrate voter registration, meet students and have fun. She also said she hopes to get some voters, she added.
Mark McCracken, Democratic candidate for the 5th Congressional District, also plans to attend.
"The thing is, this election year is so important for the young people in this country," McCracken said. "It will be good to be out there with them, hearing what their concerns are."
