On Tuesday (November 25), MTV announced that it has partnered with ServiceNation to co-host the "Be the Change Inaugural Ball" in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009 — the same day President-elect Barack Obama will take his oath of office.
The event will celebrate the massive youth-voter turnout in this month's presidential election and an active commitment from America's youth to impart positive social change through volunteer service. ServiceNation is an organization that campaigns to increase support for expanding national service programs like the Peace Corps and Americorps. In September, it hosted a forum with Obama and Senator John McCain, in which both presidential candidates agreed on the importance of community involvement.
A record 24 million people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted in the 2008 presidential election, accounting for 18 percent of the 133.3 million voters who hit the polls. It marked the third major election in a row with increased youth-voter numbers, and for the first time in 20 years, the number of young voters surpassed the number of voters over the age of 65.
The ball will be staged at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center and will feature several leading artists, celebrities and government officials (to be named later), alongside hundreds of young people who've been chosen to attend based on their demonstrated volunteerism.
The "Be the Change Inaugural Ball" will be televised live across all MTV platforms, including MTV, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, mtvU, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and MTV.com on the evening of January 20. Exact air times will be announced in the coming weeks.
The live television event will also include live broadcasts from other locations across the globe, where young people are completing major service projects. Leading up to the event, MTV will showcase stories of young people providing service within their communities on a daily basis, beginning on January 1.
"Over the last year and culminating in this election, we have seen a groundswell of engagement and a refreshed spirit of activism from young people," MTV general manager Stephen Friedman said. "ServiceNation is the perfect partner for this inaugural event, given that they encompass a broad coalition of youth service organizations. We want to celebrate young people across the nation who are answering the call and working to make changes in their communities and beyond."