As President Barack Obama walked along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, students gathered in the O'Connor Campus Center cheered as if they were among the more than one million people crammed into the National Mall.
"My friend and I were sitting up front near the television just clutching one another. We feel such a connection to Obama and felt like we were right there with him," said Madelyn Santos '09.
Naledi Semela '10, who the night before read his poem, The Writing on the Wall, at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, shared Santos's feelings of sharing a bond with Obama.
"I think about what my parents were around for and all of the presidents that they saw being inaugurated, so now I'm just soaking in the moment. I'm really excited."
Students participating in the university's Washington D.C. Study Group attended the inauguration, according to this semester's director, political science professor Timothy Byrnes.
Byrnes and the students went in groups, with varying levels of success in getting close to the proceedings. One student, Emily Bradley '10, is working as an intern for CBS News and was able to get quite close.
Tuesday's on-campus gathering and discussion session, organized by the College Democrats, Student Lecture Forum, and ALANA, marked the end of a long series of events held on campus throughout the presidential campaign.
But College Democrats President Ashley Lazevnick '10 noted that the group still has more on its agenda.
"We hope to have more politically-charged events like this and continue the political dialogue on campus. With the economy and the other issues that we are facing, it's very important for us to stay involved in our community."
In order to do so, the College Democrats will be sponsoring a coffee break on Tuesdays at 4:15 p.m. in the COOP conference room, beginning Jan. 27. All are encouraged to attend.
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| The TV room and adjoining conference room of the Coop were filled with students and staff watching the inauguration. (Photo by Andy Daddio) |