For immediate release: October 21, 2008

BLOOMSBURG — Several faculty members at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania will celebrate the extraordinary number of student voter registrations this fall – about 1,900 – with an extreme fashion makeover during BU’s Vote Jam 2008 on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The faculty will publically get Mohawks, the eye-catching hairstyle that is shaved on the sides with a noticeably longer strip on top.

Vote Jam 2008, which features debates, speeches and music, will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Kehr Union Ballroom; the Mohawk styling session will take place at noon. All events are free and open to the public.

Maria Teresita Mendoza-Enright, chair of BU’s mass communications department, said Vote Jam is designed “to put an end to student voter apathy and to provide our students the opportunity to become better informed about the specifics of the 2008 presidential election, as well as state and local campaigns.”

To keep students involved and to encourage voting participation on Tuesday, Nov. 4, faculty members Heather Feldhaus of sociology, social work and criminal justice; Gary Hardcastle of philosophy; Michael Hickey of history; and Jeffrey Leitzel of psychology have promised to restyle their hair into Mohawks.

For more information on Vote Jam or the Mohawk event, contact Mendoza-Enright at (570) 389-4632 or mmendoza@bloomu.edu or Hardcastle at ghardcas@bloomu.edu or 570-389-4174.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 8,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Professional Studies, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.