President Barack Obama will host a town hall meeting on the University of New Orleans campus on Thursday, October 15 during his first visit to the city since taking office in January.

The President, who visited New Orleans as Senator five times since Katrina before being elected, will host the public event to present local citizens with the opportunity to share their thoughts, challenges and feedback with him. The town hall meeting will be held in the UNO Recreation and Fitness Center.

"UNO is pleased to be the location of President Obama's town hall meeting. This is the most exciting thing that's happened to us since Hurricane Katrina, to have the President, and someone of President Obama's stature, visit," said Rachel Kincaid, UNO vice chancellor for governmental and community affairs. "It's also extremely important that he is visiting New Orleans and hearing personally what people have to say about the struggles and achievements of the recovery. It's important to know that he cares."

President Obama will fly in on Air Force One on Thursday morning and visit Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward, the first school to open in that community following Katrina, before visiting UNO.

A limited number of tickets to the UNO town hall meeting are available. Names will be randomly chosen from submissions. Requests for tickets are being accepted until Tuesday, October 13 at 10 a.m. central time. To register for tickets, visit www.whitehouse.gov/advance/NewOrleansTownHall10-15-09/ or call (504) 280-7060.

For directions to the UNO Recreation and Fitness Center as well as parking suggestions, visit www.uno.edu/maps.