Remember when Cosmo was a fashion magazine and not an activist arm of the Democratic Party?

Lindsay Smith of the Technician reports.

Male models, party bus to bring student voters to polls

On Nov. 4, students in need of a ride to the polls will have the option take a party bus equipped with snacks, prizes and shirtless male models courtesy of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Universities from across the country applied to Cosmopolitan’s #CosmoVotes party bus contest, hoping to bring the party bus to campus and encourage more students to get to the polls and vote on Election Day.

Camden Willeford, the associate director of publicity and communications for Student Government and a sophomore in management, applied to the contest on behalf of NC State.

As a major participant in student government, Willeford submitted an application informing Cosmo of the reasons why NC State deserved the bus more than other major competing schools.

“This is a huge election,” Willeford said. “We are a pretty big deal, even though we are a southern state—any party could win.”

North Carolina is not only a swing state in the upcoming senatorial election, but is also a swing state for presidential elections. The entire United States Congress could be determined by this election, and it is up to all North Carolina citizens who vote.

Willeford said it is important to get freshmen and sophomores to begin voting early.

When asked what inspired him to enter NC State in the contest, Camden Willeford said, “I do it for the people.”

Although the shirtless male model aspect of the bus may tend to excite more females than males, it creates a fun, exciting voting atmosphere for students, Willeford said. Anything that gets more students to go out and vote is worth it.

Because NC State’s student body is 56 percent male, the Cosmo bus would be a way to increase women voters and their participation in the election, Willeford said.