Using his dormitory room as an office and Instant Messenger as his platform, a student at American University in Washington, D.C. began Students for Dean in support of the then long-shot candidate Howard Dean last March.

The student, Michael Whitney, never thought it would be the beginning of a fervor that has captured the attention of thousands of students.

“Dean has made a strong connection with many young voters,” said Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science. “Students who work for him wouldn’t work for any other candidate.”

Generation Dean — an arm of the Dean campaign aimed at young voters — has recruited more than 12,000 university and high school students in 709 chapters across the nation. Three college students comprise the entire paid staff of Generation Dean. The hundreds of other names on the roster are all volunteers.

“I remember way back last spring when I first started Students for Dean. I would stay up talking with our Web programmer Ryan and our chapter coordinator Yoni on AIM,” Whitney said. “We never expected to grow so quickly, or get so many students interested.”

The former Vermont governor spoke about his focus on young voters in a conference call Thursday.

“Students have taken charge of this campaign because of your energy and idealism,” he said. “If I had a dollar for everyone who came to my campaign and said ‘my son and daughter told me to come’, I wouldn’t have to worry about raising money for this campaign.”

Following the official launch of Generation Dean, the Dean campaign will kick off a four-day, seven city “Raise the Roots” tour to reach out to young voters by discussing issues with students. He will stop in Iowa City on Oct. 5.

The Dean campaign claims he’s gained the attention of students through the Web and word-of-mouth, causing him to rise from the back of the field to the top of most national polls.

Dean said his appeal to young voters comes through in his straightforwardness.

“A lot of young people don’t vote because they’re disillusioned,” he said. “They hear other Washington-types making these huge promises, saying you can have a middle class tax cut, support higher education and have universal health care all at the same time.

“This isn’t possible, and that’s what I tell young voters who are disillusioned by candidates who promise all these things because they know it’s hopelessly idealistic.”

Dean said he’s drawn support from those who opposed the Iraq war and are opposed to President Bush’s tax cuts. He said the only two promises Bush kept were cutting taxes for the wealthy and going to war on Iraq.

Not all students were willing to let Dean be their voice. Cassi Johnson, president of ISU Students for Kucinich, said Dean was more of a movement than a candidate.

“Does his popularity come from addressing issues of young voters or has he simply tapped into the Internet, which is the medium they’re most comfortable with?” she said. “Just because he has a good Web site doesn’t make him the candidate of the youth.”