After beginning the year with a trip to South Carolina to support Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, the Howard chapter of Students for Barack Obama headed into the heat of the presidential election with a running start.

Bobby Belton/Claflin University

Obama in S.C. at Claflin University last February

"I'm excited about the momentum that we've built in South Carolina, and I want to bring it back to Howard's campus and get the students fired up and ready to go," said Juanetta T. Davis, media organizer for Students for Barack Obama.

The group was established over the summer and held its first general body meeting on Jan. 15. Soon after, the group helped sponsor a trip to South Carolina for Howard students interested in volunteering for the senator's campaign.

Students canvassed neighborhoods and participated in phone banks to make sure local South Carolina communities were aware of the importance of voting in the presidential election and supporting Obama's candidacy.

"[Students were able to] be a part in making history," said Booker Morris, a freshman economics major. "Everyone knows this is a pivotal election, and I feel like they should get truly involved. Students need to feel the importance of what's taking place right now, and I feel like [Students for Barack Obama] is presenting them with that information."

Morris continued, "We want people from different organizations and clubs to get involved so that Howard is overwhelmed by the Obama craze." [The candidate was the speaker at Howard's convocation last September.]

The organization is composed of students eager to see Obama elected into office, but it also plays a major part in educating students on Obama's policy positions and the events of the presidential race.

Lawrence E. Ball/The Hilltop

Howard student Randall Jones canvasses neighborhoods in Palmetto, S.C.

"The end goal is to get the senator elected, but, at Howard specifically, we are trying to give students who support the senator and students who want to know more about the senator and what he plans to do when he is elected into office an outlet," said Sonny Jackson, co-chairman of the organization. "So many people right now are on the fence -- so we really want to get out as much information as we can about what the senator is doing so that way we can help elect him."

Jackson, a senior legal communications major, continued, "People who are not for Obama have a million and five reasons for why Obama can't win it, and why not to vote for him, but don't have a reason to vote for anyone else. And that's fine, because at the end of the day, it's our job to reach them."

Obama's proposed universal health care plan and tax incentives that would benefit both teachers and students in covering tuition have won him a large following among college students.

Co-chairwoman Amal Marjani has been excited about this semester and what is to come for both student supporters and for Obama. "Youth played a big part in voting in Iowa," said Marjani, a sophomore chemistry major. Marjani and Jackson have taken the reins to work with other student organizations including Hampton University, to bring more people together.

"I think Obama was the first candidate to establish an organization at Howard, he was the first to have an established presence [on campus], and the Obama campaign has been giving a lot of support to us," said Abimbola George, a junior political science and sociology double-major and a member of Students for Barack Obama who spent the weekend in South Carolina. "Being in the organization gives me a lot more opportunities. It allows me to become part of the changes he is pushing for, [and become] part of a message of change and a campaign for hope."

The organization Students for Barack Obama has taken advantage of the opportunity to be active in the unprecedented presidential race and waits confidently for Obama's nod as the democratic candidate in the 2008 presidential election.

"I don't see it as a possibility that after the primaries he is not around," Jackson said. "We're just one station for Students for Barack Obama. [After the primaries], the functionality of the group may have to change to become a group that supports the president, but right now we're just trying to get him elected. Once that goal is set, we're ready for whatever is next. We're here."

Aleesa Mann wrote this article for The Hilltop, Howard University's student newspaper.

Posted Jan. 22, 2008