Matthew Miller

mrmiller@lsj.com

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will hold "A Future to Believe In" rally at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center on Wednesday.

The Vermont senator was invited to campus by Associated Students of MSU, the university’s student government.

The goal is “to give students a chance to directly engage with the candidate rather than just what they see on CNN or in the debates,” said ASMSU President Domonique Clemons.

Clemons said ASMSU reached out to several presidential candidates.

“A couple of them showed interest,” he said, but none besides Sanders’ campaign was able to commit.

Sanders has drawn strong support from college students, and Clemons said “We’re expecting to fill the lower bowl of the Breslin as well as some of the upper bowl.”

More than 9,000 mostly young people attended a Sanders rally at Eastern Michigan University on Feb. 15.

“The issue that we’re dealing with now: whether or not we’re going to have a government which represents all of the people of our country or whether we’re going to have a government owned and controlled by wealthy contributors,” Sanders said at that event. “We have a corrupt campaign finance system which is undermining American democracy. We have a system in which a small number of people are making huge campaign contributions.”

He also called for free college tuition, refinancing student debt at the lowest possible interest rate, removing marijuana from the schedule 1 list of illegal controlled substances and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Also on Feb. 15, Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich spoke at MSU, telling the crowd that he wouldn’t make college free if he was elected president, but would advise colleges to drop considerations not related to educating students.

Kasich talks college affordability, big government at MSU

Sanders is running against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

The Sanders rally at MSU will be free and open to the public, but the campaign is strongly encouraging those who want to attend to RSVP. For security reasons, attendees are being asked not to bring bags, and limit what they do bring "to small personal items like keys and cell phones," the campaign said in an email. Clemons said the Sanders campaign will be covering the costs.

Doors will open at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, less than a week before the March 8 Michigan primary.

MSU spokesman Jason Cody said the university is “simply the venue” for the event.

“One of our student groups reached out and brought in a candidate they wanted to bring in,” he said. “We encourage all of our students to be involved.”

Additional information on the event is available at https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/detail/rally/4gqpm.