Students’ Views

I imagine I’m not the only blogger who is posting about election night. It really was a special night to be American college student. What, in part, was so special was the fact that Obama campaign motivated so many people to vote on campuses across the nation. It’s no small feat to get the college demographic out there actually voting. Southwestern, for its part, had a non-stop shuttle to the polls all day. What’s more amazing is that the candidate college students overwhelming supported, won.

I remember the last election. I was in Missouri at Drury University. As the night wore on, and it became clear that Kerry was going to lose, a feeling of despair overtook everyone. Kerry wasn’t nearly as worthy of a candidate as Obama is, but all the same the majority of young people were depressed by the four more years of Bush.

When Obama won the feeling all around the election party at the McCombs Ballroom was amazing–so hopeful and so joyful. I think for some of the students in there they might not even remember how disparaging it was when Bush won again.

I, at least, have been rather cynical about national politics ever since the 2000 election, and my cynicism was not helped when Bush managed to win again. What was so sobering and exciting about last Tuesday was watching the democratic process really work–to see people get behind the idea of “change.” Regardless of whether that will actually materialize into something different. Really for the first time in my life, I sort of started to believe that politics did not have to be a total personal compromise. What we have in Obama (or what I think we might have) is a candidate not afraid to speak honestly with the public, and who appears to be more  in touch with the lived experience of so many Americans. And while I never hopped on the Obama bandwagon, I’m excited by the shift in political engagement that it might represent.

A large number of students organizations, Korouva Milk Bar included, hosted a party in the ballroom. We moved our entire operation over there and actually sold coffee and tea that is until the election was (rather preemptively) called for Obama. Then everyone switched to champagne. :)

The feeling in that room…wow. It’s rare you get 40-50 people around two small televisions screens and they can manage to be quiet. Watching McCain’s concession speech, and Obama’s subsequent acceptance speech was amazing, in part, because everyone in the room shut up and listened. In retrospect, how fortunate we were this year to have TWO decent candidates and not two candidates that we have to settle for.

Afterward, we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves. We haphazardly marched over to the fountain in front of campus: some of us jumped in, some people cheered, the national anthem was sung, more champagne was had. There really was this overwhelming joy that we couldn’t find away to express.

Naturally, I had to stop enjoying myself. Capstone called. An all-nighter ensued. I must confess though. The joy surrounding the entire event did not go away the next day or the day after that.

I talked to some friends on other campuses and they confirmed the same stuff was going on there. The next day I received emails from all of my friends i’d met in France: they were excited for Americans.