The Florida A&M University College Democrats have made down-to-the-minute efforts to get students out to vote and bring known political personalities to campus.
One of the most anticipated celebrities was Fahrenheit 9-11’s creator, Michael Moore, who was to be brought to campus through a joint venture between the FAMU and the FSU College Democrats.
However, the visit fell through when the FAMU College Democrats were denied a venue for Moore to speak at by President Fred Gainous.
“Basically, the reason why we he’s not going to be coming to FAMU is because the area that would accommodate the crowd was not signed off on by Gainous,” said FAMU College Democrats Vice President Amanda Wilkerson.
Wilkerson said Gainous would not sign off on the requisition of the Quad, which is the space between Coleman Library, Lee Hall, the Orange Room and Jones Hall, because he promised the library staff that the doors to the library would not be blocked. But Wilkerson said that the option to block the library doors would depend on the position of the stage.
“I support the activities of the students, but I have no comments about Michael Moore not coming to campus at this time,” Gainous said.
However, Wilkerson said Gainous would have allowed for the director to come at any other location on campus, but the Moore camp said that it was too much trouble to get things finalized at the University.
“(Moore) had waived the $50,000 touring fee specifically to come back to FAMU,” Wilkerson said.
Moore had come to Tallahassee in last month to speak at FSU.
Instead, Moore will be speaking at Leon County Civic Center Monday.
However, the FAMU College Democrats still had other events as the country enters the final days before what some are calling the most important election in the history of the country.
The FAMU College Democrats held a rally on campus Friday with Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe speaking on the importance of voting and assuring any apprehensive voters that their vote will count.
“I have promised people that your vote gets counted in this,” McAuliffe said.
Because Florida has 27 electoral votes and is a swing state- a state that does not historically vote Republican or Democrat- it is a major prize in the presidential race. This fact is not lost on the various political organizations involved with the campaigns.
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