The Rev. Jesse Jackson marched students down the aisle and out the door of Hill Auditorium yesterday.
"Ann Arbor, come on down," Jackson ordered. "Go right down that aisle and register now. You cannot impact this system unregistered."
During a voter registration rally with student leaders and elected officials from across the state, Jackson instructed all unregistered voters in the audience to get out of their seats and register at the tables set up outside of the auditorium.
Michigan Student Assembly President Fiona Rose said that although students had to wait more than an hour for Jackson to arrive, the event was a memorable success.
"These students who registered today will never forget they were registered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson," Rose said.
"I wasn't registered to vote, but this really encouraged me to," said LSA junior Tasha Reed.
Jackson commented on the diversity of the Ann Arbor audience - an aspect of campus life on which the University prides itself.
"You look like what (Martin Luther King Jr.) lived and died for - you look like a little United Nations here," Jackson said.
Jackson ended the "Get Down With the Vote" rally with his voter march, but before he arrived students and officials made their own pleas to get out the vote.
Jeanne Harris, speaker of the Black Student Union, compared participation in the political process with the wave she started in the crowd.
"You can't stop when you see a little bit of success ... because somebody's got to come after you," Harris said.
Speakers reminded audience members that just as their parents' actions affected them, their actions and decisions would have consequences for students years from now.
Rose said the young generation has been stereotyped with apathy and unawareness as a result of low voter turnout and poor student involvement.
Loren McGhee, president of the campus chapter of the NAACP, encouraged students to do more than register and vote.
"Our vote is directly related to our lives," she said. "(Get) your hands dirty in campus issues or campus affairs."
Jackson also encouraged local activism and told students that they should cast votes where they live - in Ann Arbor.
As Jackson asked students to stand up and raise hands to answer questions about how they pay their tuition at the University, he commented that all students benefit from financial aid for higher education.
"Every student at this school is subsidized by the state and federal government - you are all on aid," Jackson said.
Jackson's push to unite all young voters "under one big tent" was his most powerful message, LSA senior Mark Stallworth said.
"We all need to be under the same tent as far as legalities, as far as government - unifying ourselves," Stallworth said.