On Sept. 7, thousands of college students tuned in to watch their favorite celebrity or music artist make an appearance on stage or in the crowd at the MTV Video Music Awards. However, 19 days later on Sept. 26, at the first presidential debate, significantly less college students tuned in.
It’s quite apparent that most students would rather see Paris Hilton sit in a bikini and speak about how we should vote, or listen to rapper Kanye West give his political views on who he is voting for.
“It’s good that the celebrities are reaching out but there’s a way to do it. I mean the whole vote or die thing, what the hell is that? And then we come to find out that in the last election Paris Hilton didn’t even vote,” Mike Viscariello sophomore information systems and political science major said.
Some of the methods that the celebrities are taking to raise voting awareness are very effective and helpful.
“It’s good that celebrities are taking their time to reach out, because we’re more likely to listen to them than politicians,” junior marketing major Rodney Collins said.
A good example is a new voting campaign out called Declare Yourself. One of the campaign’s commercials has celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Halle Berry, Ellen DeGeneres, Dustin Hoffman, Sarah Silverman and Jennifer Aniston to name a few.
Their message is quite simple: just go out and vote. No one on the commercial says ” Vote or Die” or “Obama rules.” There is no bias going into the commercial, just making sure that the youth understands the importance in voting.
“There is a right way,” Viscariello said. “I think it’s good that celebrities want to help, but they shouldn’t try to sway our minds,” Saleem Brown assistant director of Cabrini admissions said.
