The Obama campaign made a stop at Colorado Mesa University Friday afternoon, and a popular television and film actor was there to rally support for the November election.

Actor Kal Penn, best known for his role as Kumar in the Harold and Kumar films, campaigned with President Obama in 2008 and he's back to support Obama this time around as well.

On Friday afternoon, he spoke to C.M.U. students about how the president is fighting to improve access to affordable education, and he also outlined the choice students face in the 2012 election.

Penn says he wants students to start a conversation and get talking about the issues so they can make an informed choice in November.

KJCT caught up with Penn Friday afternoon, he told us why he decided to get involved in politics and the campaign for President Obama.

"I had never done anything political before 2007, really it was just [because of] friends of mine. I had friends who were kicked out of the military because of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', I had friends who didn't have access to health care or enough financial aid and couldn't afford college," said Penn.

"And here was a president who wasn't talking special interest, federal lobbyist money, his background was completely different, he and the first lady just paid off their student loans a couple of years ago. So to have a president that really understand that, and in the last three and a half years has given us a lot of progress on those issues, made we want to volunteer again. I'm not paid, I'm just volunteering like the rest of a lot of these folks," Penn added.

C.M.U. student Elizabeth Avila was in the crowd to hear Penn deliver his message.

Avila said she liked the fact that it wasn't just a Democratic rally; Penn was reminding students to register to vote because their vote does count.

Avila's a registered voter herself. She heard Penn talk about the issues that are important to the president such as increasing access to health care and to higher education by making it more affordable.

"He [Penn] kind of swayed me more towards Obama because I'm an undecided voter, and after the presidential debate I still was really confused, but he cleared a couple things up for me," said Avila.

She said the message on making higher education more affordable hit close to home for her.

"That is actually really important to me being a college student, with Obama wanting to help kids and make sure that they go ahead with school and make sure they graduate, it's really important for, not just me, but anyone that's looking to have a higher education," said Avila.

Penn spoke to students at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs a couple of hours before his Grand Junction visit.

The Colorado Mesa University Democrats were also at the event, trying to encourage students to register to vote and get involved in campus events.

The voter registration deadline is October 9.