The Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to a packed University Grand Ballroom Friday urging students to vote and addressing major political issues he felt students need to be aware of.

Jackson also challenged students to start a chapter of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition on campus.

Jackson told students they can use their vote and their influence to stop the possible war in Iraq.

“Right now there is a grain stopping us from an unnecessary war with Iraq. The whole world is saying to Bush, a war undercuts our moral authority, and national law the idea of assassinating other leaders is a repugnant illegal idea. We should not break with our coalition on which there is a collective coalition to make the world more secure,” Jackson said.

“In the meantime in the last two years since Bush has been president we’ve lost nearly three million jobs. We are experiencing deflation, cut in wages, rise in bankruptcy, poverty, and unemployment. So these are the issues students need to get involved in because if tuition goes up and their parents lose their jobs, then they’re screwed. If 11,000 students go here they should vote here, they shop here, pay taxes here,

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they have a right,” he said.

The government is trying to distract people from other problems in this nation right now, like poverty and corruption in business, with a possible war in Iraq, Jackson said.

At the end of his speech, Jackson asked the people in the audience who had yet to register to vote to stand up. He then called those people to come to the stage, where his staff could register them to vote.

He also told anyone interested in having Rainbow/PUSH on campus to come on stage and speak with him.

Interim President Lou Hencken said he was impressed by Jackson’s speech.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Rev. Jackson, and it was a great opportunity to see a world famous leader. I was pleased to see the number of students that were here,” Jackson said.

“He really can come in and work a crowd. When I went to the first Student Government meetings one of the things I said was, ‘If you want Springfield, and Washington to pay attention to you, you’ve got to register, and then you’ve got to vote.’ What he said is exactly what I said earlier, and he’s absolutely correct,” Hencken said.

Monique Cook-Bey, the assistant director of student life and one of the event’s coordinators, was pleased with the turnout.

“I’m glad we got support, and I was pleased with the turnout,” Cook-Bey said.

Sherman Thomas, a senior and the president of Eastern’s chapter of the NAACP, would like to see more support from the African American community.

“I was glad to see that Rev. Jackson isn’t afraid to say what he feels. I thought we had a good turnout, but I think we need to move African Americans to show more support,” Thomas said.

Many students were moved by Jackson’s strong speech.

“He was a very inspirational and educational, I enjoyed his speech, it showed me what we as young adults can do for our community,” said Josephine Robinson, a senior speech communication major.

Tiffany Davis, a junior health studies major, agreed that Jackson’s speech motivated her.

“Jesse inspired me to vote, he’s a very inspiring speaker,” Davis said.