On Thursday, UI senior Jeff Shipley will have one final task before joining his fellow Hawkeyes downtown to forget their first week of classes.

He has to turn in a list of peoples’ signatures in support of his election to the Iowa City City Council.

“A lot of people think that’s pretty ambitious of me,” he said.

But the 21-year-old is no rookie to city politics. He spent the summer acting as the UI student liaison to the council.

“In my mind, running for City Council and getting a campaign together that represents students is essentially just an extension or duty of the position I already have,” he said.

He said he was inspired by something Mayor Regenia Bailey said.

During a discussion in May, Bailey told Shipley she originally voted against the idea of having a student liaison. It would be akin to sitting at the kids’ table during Thanksgiving — one can sit and listen but doesn’t really have a voice.

“I saw it as a challenge,” Shipley said, and he feels like he “fits in” with the other councilors and does not see age as a boundary. Councilor Mike O’Donnell said Shipley has demonstrated his dedication to the job by coming prepared to every meeting.

“Working with Jeff has been a pleasure,” said O’Donnell, who will not run for re-election. “He’s not afraid to voice his opinion, and that’s exactly what you need to be on the council.”

The last student to serve in Iowa City was Steven Kanner, who was in his 40s and taking classes during his term between 2000 and 2003, one city official noted. In some other Big Ten communities, however, it’s not as uncommon to see students elected to the council.

In Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Bryon Eagon serves as one of 20 city councilors. He said he shares a fundamental goal with Shipley: to give students a voice.

“The city-campus interaction is vital to the city,” said Eagon, who ran the spring of his junior year after working full-time for the Obama campaign. “The kind of city we want to be in the future is going to be reflected by the people that are here and what kind of ideas we have for the future.”

With the deadline for candidates closing in, Shipley said he will step up his campaign efforts.

So far, he has collected more than the 242 signatures required to be an eligible candidate. Most of his signatures came from students who recently returned to campus, some of whom he found lounging outside of bars downtown, he said.

The political-science major plans to start campaigning around campus and maybe even create a Twitter account.

The election will be held in November; depending on how many candidates decide to run, a primary may be needed in October.

Shipley is involved in discussion of alcohol-related issues in Iowa City. The problem isn’t necessarily underage drinking, said Shipley, who considers himself a strong opponent of an ordinance to restrict students under 21 from entering the bars.

“The problem is the person who might be 22 or 23 who has taken 10 shots in a row and then passing out in the alley,” he said. “And of course, they give a black eye to all students.”