Standing in the wings of the auditorium at Howard University’s business school were three or four young volunteers who didn’t look like students. Each wore a small red sticker on his chest, which read, “Stand with Rand.” As Howard students filed into the room, the volunteers would gently push forward their clipboards, asking if the students would sign their names to “Stand with Rand.” By the time Rand Paul had entered to give his speech Wednesday morning, the volunteers had a few, but not many, signatures.

Paul isn’t used to getting cool receptions, particularly not at college campuses, where he and his libertarian father Ron Paul often have a small but devoted following. There was no army of fans at Howard, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., and the place where Paul spoke Wednesday morning in an effort to reach out to African Americans. From the start, the senator tried to break the ice.