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Friday, 16 January 2009 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — A local resident left for Washington D.C. Friday afternoon and will be attending the inauguration of the nation’s first black president.
Brent Householder, a junior at Bluffton University, left for the nation’s capital with Young Democrats, a political student organization at Bluffton.
“I’m kind of experiencing every emotion possible,” Householder said on Thursday. “I’m excited and nervous at the same time.”
Householder said he believed in President-elect Barack Obama and the change he pledged to bring to the country.
“I believe he can initiate the change we need,” he said, adding that he knows the dissent of some of the people who will be at the inauguration and said he is afraid of the possibility that something could happen.
Householder, who is the current treasurer of Young Democrats, and eight others left at noon Friday and arrived in D.C. Friday evening in a Bluffton campus van. They will return on Wednesday.
He said the group was able to secure five official tickets through U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green.
“We have four other people going including our adviser,” he said, adding that the group with tickets is a mix of juniors and seniors and most of the students without tickets are freshmen.
After not being able to find a place to stay, Householder said the group was able to use Bluffton’s mennonite background.
“We called a mennonite church that is 3 miles from D.C.,” he said. The church is letting the group stay for $5 a night.
On the day of the ceremony, Householder said the group will be getting up at 4 a.m. Tuesday to ride the Metro and go to the swearing in ceremony.
“We’ll try to go to the parade afterwards,” he said.
Householder said he did receive an e-mail from the Presidential Inauguration Committee inviting him to the Inaugural Ball, but he did not have the money to spend on the ticket.
“We’ll take advantage of the free public events,” he said, noting the concerts at the Lincoln Memorial and the service activities.
After transferring from the University of Toledo to Bluffton for his sophomore year, Householder said he joined Young Democrats after visiting their booth at an activity fair because he thought it would be a great opportunity to do something on campus.
“I wanted to get involved and make new friends,” he said.
He attended his first meeting and the club’s officers talked to him and Householder he said he knew he had made friends.
“It’s just part of my life now,” he said of Young Democrats.
During election season, Householder said the executive committee — the officers — met at least twice a week and the general members met at least once every two weeks.
“We had to keep up with the campaign,” he said.
In the summer, the executive committee would exchange e-mails or chat online to coordinate different events for the upcoming semester.
The group held voter registration drives during the school year, Householder said.
“We sat in front of the cafeteria and registered over 30 to 40 people to vote,” he said.
Young Democrats also canvassed for Obama and did phone banking during the week.
“He’s a very strong supporter of Obama,” Householder said of the Young Democrats president. “He made sure we always had something to do on campus.”
In addition to Young Democrats, Householder is a treasurer for the Bluffton branch of Habitat for Humanity, a senator in the college’s Student Senate and a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The 2006 Celina graduate said he has always been interested in politics and history and is a history major with a pre-law minor at the school.
Householder plans on attending law school after he graduates. He is the son of Linda Huber and Thomas Householder. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 January 2009 )
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