Hundreds of students, faculty, and administrators piled in and around Hillside Cafe Thursday night to witness a rare event: a political campaign stop at Boston College. Chelsea Clinton, the only daughter of the political power couple of former President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton, came to BC to promote her mother's candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination as part of her "Our Voice, Our Future" tour.

Clinton, 27, has only recently become involved with her mother's campaign, and her stop at BC is part of a larger Clinton campaign strategy to appeal to the youth vote ahead of the Super Tuesday primary elections in 22 states on Feb. 5.

Speaking on a makeshift stage in a corner of the crowded café, Clinton touched upon a number of issues important to BC students, including paying for a college education, abortion, and foreign policy.

In a manner reminiscent of her campaigning parents, she emphasized her mother's experience, highlighted her mother's differences from the other leading Democratic candidates, and spoke with great knowledge and specificity on policy - sometimes stopping herself when answers became overly verbose.

Right away a question was asked about affording college tuition now and finding a job after graduation. Clinton replied that she was particularly proud of her mother for her stance on this issue; an area in which "she has significant differences with her leading Democratic opponents," while also noting that Republicans rarely discuss the issue.

She said that under her mother's plan, the government will provide a $3,500 per year per child tax credit for families putting a child through college, will "double the maximum amount of Pell Grants available," and will expand AmeriCorps, a program started by her father.

In particular, she emphasized her mother's desire "to get rid of the FAFSA form," as it was a "singularly traumatizing experience" that her mother went through when completing the form for her cousin. Clinton said that her mother wants a family to be able to simply check a box on their tax forms to indicate a desire for federal financial aid.

On a question about engaging in diplomacy with Iran and Syria, Clinton said of her mother, "she's always had the same position on it … she believes it is appropriate not to have those engagements start on the presidential level." Clinton said that her mother believes this strategy would lead to "more meaningful talks, versus just a photo-op."

At one point, Clinton answered a question from several students who stood outside holding pro-life signs against a window near her. "I think someone is asking me to ask my mother to be pro-life, so I think that's sort of a question," she said to laughter. She went on to say that her mother has always advocated "safe, legal, and rare" abortion.

She noted that in the past year, her mother has sponsored legislation known as "Prevention First," which, among other things, would implement "age appropriate sex education, put legitimate information on the National Institute of Health's Web site, and provide emergency contraception." Turning to the window, Clinton said, "I don't know if you can hear that, but that's what I think."

In response to a question concerning the recent sparring between her mother and Senator Barack Obama, Clinton said she was proud of her mother's performance, and added, "As a daughter, I always hope everyone is going to be nice to my mom, but I know that is not how these things go."

The students attending the event had come for various reasons. Many came out of curiosity. Bridget Probst, CSOM '10 said, "I wanted to see Chelsea, and how involved she was in the campaign."

Rafael Leonardo, a member of the BC ROTC and CSOM '11 said, "I'm trying to meet all the candidates, to get the most information I can."

Some were more enthusiastic about her arrival: "I'm excited. I'm leaning towards Hillary, and I'm definitely voting on February 5th," said Maura Mahoney, A&S '09. The event also drew the supporters of other presidential campaigns. During the event, an "Obama '08" and a "Romney for President" poster were seen hovering above the crowd.

Most students left the event feeling more knowledgeable about the Clinton campaign. "I thought she was really informative, she defended her mom's positions well, and I'm glad she came," said Neal Rice, A&S '08. John Wheatley, president of the BC College Democrats and A&S '08, was also impressed: "For someone who has not done a lot of public speaking, I was amazed at how well she spoke," he said, after presenting Clinton with a BC Superfan shirt.

Even though the event, hosted by the College Democrats of BC and Students for Hillary, had a high turnout, it was decidedly last-minute. "I got a call yesterday, 90 percent it might happen, 50 percent it'll happen in Hillside," said Bobak Fatemizadeh, vice president of the BC College Democrats and A&S '09. He noted that the Clinton campaign confirmed less than 36 hours before the event was due to take place on campus.

"The Washington Bureau of the Clinton Campaign had wanted Chelsea to come to Boston for a while, and when their event at Clinton Massachusetts Headquarters fell through the campaign contacted us and asked if Chelsea could come speak at BC, and that's how it all got started," Wheatley said in a separate interview.

"This is not something that happens a lot at BC and it is due to the hard work of a lot of people over the last few years," Wheatley added. He said that this event had a different outcome than when the Kerry daughters canceled on BC at the last minute in 2004.

He also thanked the BC administration and particularly Tom Keady, vice president for governmental and community affairs, for helping to secure Hillside on such short notice.

Megan O'Neill, associate director of Dining Services, said that while the venue was "too small," the event went better than expected, in part due to the strong presence of the Boston College Police Department, who capped the number of students allowed into Hillside and provided continuous crowd control during the event. In a separate incident, Dining Services administrators were overheard grousing about the lack of planning for the event.

Clinton ended with a simple request: "Please do your work and stay informed and ask questions. Everyone says we're going to turn out in this election, and I hope we do."

The Massachusetts primary is Tuesday, Feb. 5.