 Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle actor Kal Penn advocated for Obama on Thursday.
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Kal Penn holds degrees in film and sociology from the University of California - Los Angeles, and has starred in television shows 24 and House, M.D., as well as movies such as Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and The Namesake. Over the last couple of months, he has taken on a new role as a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), making appearances across the nation in support of the Obama campaign.
On Thursday, Penn looked out over the crowded room in McGuinn Hall, and said, "In terms of crowd size you guys completely trample the little event we did at [Boston University] earlier."
Penn addressed the sense of alienation that affects many young voters. He spoke of a friend in Texas who worked a minimum wage job in the hope of saving money for college. One day, Penn said, his friend received a call from Halliburton, the Houston-based corporation that holds a number of government defense contracts. Penn's friend was asked if he would be interested in driving trucks in Iraq for $90,000 a year. The friend decided not to take the job, and has still not been able to attend college.
Penn's political cynicism grew, but he began to look for someone who would address these issues.
Penn said that Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was a turning point for him. He said that his reactions were strong: "When is this guy going to run for president? Who is this?" he said.
Penn said that, after researching Obama further, he spent two days in Iowa performing volunteer work for the campaign. Inspired by the commitment of the volunteers, he decided to become further involved.
"We finally have someone to rally behind," Penn said.
Joshua Darr, director of BC Students for Barack Obama, organized Penn's appearance.
"The campaign contacted me on Monday and said, 'We'd like to have Kal Penn on campus on Thursday, can you set that up?'" Darr said. "We were very pleasantly surprised," Darr said of the turnout.
BC Students for Barack Obama started out as a Facebook group, a tool that Darr said has been very helpful in spreading awareness of Obama's campaign to students.
