For the fifth time in two years, President Barack Obama will come to Ohio State’s campus.
As originally reported by The Lantern, Obama is scheduled to host a grassroots event on the Oval with special guest Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas Tuesday.
Doors are scheduled to open 2 p.m. at the corner of Neil and West 17th avenues. The event is free and open to the public, although attendees will need to RSVP for entry, which can be done on Obama’s website.
Tickets are also available at the Obama for America offices in the South Campus Gateway, Clintonville, Whitehall, Upper Arlington and German Village.
Gustavo Castaneda, a third-year in aerospace engineering, said his schoolwork will keep him from attending the event.
“I have midterms before and homework to do,” he said. “I really have to allocate my time to that.”
Obama was last in Columbus Sept. 17, when he spoke in Schiller Park in German Village to a crowd of about 4,500. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has not yet visited OSU’s campus, but he was in Columbus Sept. 26 at Westerville South High School, where he spoke to a crowd of about 1,700. Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan are scheduled to visit Ohio this week.
Peter Syverud, a first-year in undecided engineering, said he won’t miss an opportunity to see the president.
“I just think that since I’m a citizen of the United States if the president’s coming to town I should go listen to him,” he said.
Romney’s youngest son, Craig Romney, stopped on campus Saturday to help with a campaign effort called Buckeye Blitz.
The 31-year-old talked to College Republicans at the Ohio Union and went door-to-door with them around the campus area talking about the campaign.
“We’ve got a great group of volunteers here and we just wanted to get out and thank them for all they’re doing but also help them get on their way with the Buckeye Blitz this weekend,” Craig Romney said in an exclusive interview with The Lantern.
Craig Romney said Ohio and the youth vote is critical for this election and that they’ve seen a swing of support among younger voters for his father.
“They see this tremendous deficit that’s been left by this president and I think they understand that’s going to be our generation’s burden to pay that debt,” Craig Romney said.
The first presidential debate was held Wednesday evening at the University of Denver in Colorado, a swing state, and many analysts declared Romney the winner.
Results of the latest Gallup poll place Romney within three points of Obama, 49-46.
Danielle Seamon and Todd Avery contributed to this story
