Everywhere Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) goes, students seem to follow.
In all but three states this year, Obama has won the youth vote and dramatically increased young-voter registration and turn out at the polls.
But with the Democratic race unlikely to end soon, many are wondering what will happen with young voters in the fall, particularly if Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is chosen as the Democratic nominee.
"If there's a back-door deal or people perceive [the convention] to be unfair, they may not want to be tainted," said Randall Miller, a St. Joseph's professor of history and a political analyst.
Miller said students might stay home for the general election if they saw their votes overturned at a brokered convention, decided by party insiders.
But many Democrats remain optimistic about keeping students within the party, regardless of who the nominee is.
"Both are excellent candidates, and students feel the same way," College sophomore and Penn Democrats Vice President Mukul Sharma said.
"Students understand the far-reaching implications of another Republican in the White House," he said, echoing the lock the Democratic Party seems to have on young voters.
Research on youth-voting patterns seems to back that up, as well.
Over the past eight years, students have become more and more pivotal in national and state-wide elections due to changing tactics in get-out-the-vote efforts, said Sujatha Jahagirdar, program coordinator for the nonpartisan Public Interest Research Group's New Voters Project.
"Unequivocally, talking one-on-one with students leads to increased youth turn out," she said, adding that phone banking is "absolutely" more effective than celebrities encouraging students to vote.
Jahagirdar said political engagement with students is no longer left to just independent organizations.
"Campaigns are now doing this work as well, and in this election, candidates are talking directly to young people about their issues," she said.
For these reasons, Jahagirdar said she doesn't think that the increasing activism will stop any time soon - even if students don't get their top choice for their parties' nominations.
Political campaigns and their affiliate organizations will not want to take any chances, though. They will address student issues in order to win over their support.
"Students want to hear about the issues that matter to them," said Sharma, adding that voter registration is key in ensuring that youth issues are discussed during the campaign.
Penn Dems will start fall registration efforts during New Student Orientation in late August.
But whether those new students will be energized to vote, regardless of the nominee, is still uncertain.
"Democrats typically have more to work with in new voters," Miller said. "And many of those new voters will still see this election as a watershed event."
