Students who register to vote will have a chance to pie someone in the face on Thursday.
As an initiative to encourage voting, University organizations including Undergraduate Student Government [USG], the Black Student Union [BSU] and University Activities Organization [UAO] are letting students pie people in the Falcon’s Nest. To qualify to pie people, students must already be registered to vote or must register at the event. During the event, there will be forms that students can fill out to register to vote, said USG President Brian Kochheiser.
“This is a kickoff event just to get some buzz around voter registration,” Kochheiser said. “We strongly advise students to practice their right to vote.”
Although there is more attention around presidential elections, Kochheiser said midterm elections are just as important.
While BSU and UAO have participated in this event before, Kochheiser said this is the first year USG has taken part in it.
This event is just one step in a process of getting students more politically involved, said Board of Trustees member David Westmeyer.
The deadline for registration is Oct. 6 and the University will be working to get as many students as possible registered before that date.
“We’re doing voter registration initiatives all weekend,” Westmeyer said. “This is kind of the kick-off event for that.”
There will also be an event in October that will educate students about being informed voters. Westmeyer said voting is an important duty of citizens, which is why the University is promoting it.
“It’s part of being an active member of the community,” he said. “Every vote counts.”
The event is being hosted in the Falcon’s Nest because of the amount of students who pass through the Union, said Emma Sales, a member of Civic Action Leaders.
The event will have about 30 volunteers. Sales said those being pied include Kochheiser, Westmeyer and USG Vice President Nicole Neely.
The a cappella group Ten40 will perform during the event starting at 11:45 a.m., Sales said.
“This is a really exciting event,” Sales said. “You don’t really see these organizations coming together.”
