Registration drive yields one-fifth of last year’s registrants
Joshua Knopp / News Editor
Hundreds of students gathered at the intramural fields behind Fouts Field Saturday night for Alpha Phi Alpha’s annual registration drive, which featured several UNT based performers and Houston-based DJ Streetz.
Music pumped and dancing lines frequently took root in the crowd, but estimates of the amount of registrants are dwarfed by last year’s numbers — Alpha Phi Alpha officials said the final count isn’t in, but a little more than 300 people registered at the event. Last year, about 1,500 registered.
Chapter president Ricky Pratt said the new location and logistics errors are to blame. The event had traditionally been held at the field east of Kerr Hall, but was moved to the intramural fields because organizers thought it would need a bigger venue. However, the non-central location and the registration booth being far away from the stage lead to fewer registrants.
“The table wasn’t able to get much traffic in its location relative to the stage,” Pratt said. “I thought it was a success. I definitely enjoyed all the people out there, and people definitely enjoyed the new location.”
Pratt said the fraternity will fix the issue next year.
The event was co-sponsored by UNT’s Student Government Association, and president Troy Elliott is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Elliott said participation in the voting drive was important to UNT’s funding as a whole, because one of the requirements for Title IV state funding is that the school promote voter registration.
Featured Image: Hundreds of students crowd the stage on Saturday in the intramural fields behind Fouts Field, eager to see the next dance team and hear DJ Streetz at the 2014 Kerr Beach voter registration drive. Photo by Johsua Knopp, News Editor.
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