East Campus received a dose of Hollywood Sunday afternoon as actor Kal Penn visited Richard White Lecture Hall campaigning on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama.
Penn, best known for his role in the Harold and Kumar series, spoke eloquently before an above-capacity crowd of students, faculty and local residents in an event arranged by Duke Democrats.
Noting that he is a registered independent, Penn cited Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention as his primary inspiration for getting involved in the campaign. He said Obama's assertion that Americans should unify as the United States-not divide as red and blue states-was especially powerful.
Injecting humor as he spoke, Penn outlined Obama's attributes as a candidate, and described his own involvement in the campaign to warrant his introduction as a "super-volunteer" by Duke Democrats President Ben Bergmann, a sophomore. The speech was followed by approximately 45 minutes of open questions.
"The event was a great success," Bergmann said amid the throng of Obama volunteers after the speech. "I was impressed by the detailed, policy-oriented questions asked by the students."
Questions focused on Obama's campaign, touching on issues of the economy, the environment and education. Penn responded to the criticism of the use of celebrities by the Obama campaign by comically de-emphasizing his own fame.
"I'm not a big enough celebrity to be in McCain's ad," he said.
In an interview with The Chronicle following the speech, Penn noted that he considered this election a transitional phase in the country's world image.
"I want to settle down someday," he said. "I want to look back to this election and remember thinking, 'A great future is possible.'"
Not all students, however, reacted positively to Penn's politically charged visit.
"Today, the College Republicans and the Obama campaign find ourselves in agreement: Celebrities like Kal Penn are the best people to argue Obama's qualifications to be president," Duke College Republicans Chair Vikram Srinivasan, a junior, said in a statement Sunday.
Regardless, Penn was received positively by students in attendance, who cheered enthusiastically throughout the speech. "His speech was informative and he is definitely qualified to campaign for Obama," freshman Flavio Ono said.
Penn has focused his campaign efforts on the 500,000 college students in North Carolina after assessing this state's role as a "battleground" in the election.
Penn will continue his tour of college campuses this week. He visited Chapel Hill earlier Sunday, and casually added, "Duke's turnout was way better."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.