Author: Emily Shugerman
The Cooler erupted in cheers as the news flashed across the screen: “CNN predicts Obama win.” Students gathered in the Cooler, and other locations across the campus, starting at 5 p.m. to watch election results come in on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Anticipation built as state results were announced one by one. No matter their party affiliation, students anxiously tabulated electoral votes and made their own projections for the outcome. Cheers shot up at various times as wins were announced for Obama, building to an uproar as the final prediction was announced and a chant of “Four more years!” was heard around the room.
Senior Tyler Brewington summed up the emotions of many on campus. “I
cried,” she said of her reaction to the election results. “Everyone that’s
different in America matters and counts and that means so much.”
“I’m just in a state of disbelief,” economics major Cassie Crosby (senior) said. “A lot of tension has been built up on campus, and this is all just an outpouring of relief…It
was interesting in 2008 to watch the election because I didn’t feel
like I was really participating. This year, voting gave me the ability
to make a decision about my rights, my future and my opportunities.”
Sophomore Christina Crittenden spoke to some of the key issues in this year’s election. “As
a woman and as someone from the LGBT community I can definitely say
that I am proud to have Obama in office from the next four years. Being
of that demographic it is very reassuring for me to have a president who
advocates for those rights”
Not everyone was overjoyed with the results, however. Several students expressed their displeasure with the reactions of the Occidental student body. ”I
feel like sometimes people at Oxy don’t take the time to learn other
opinions,” Nellie Bubb (first-year) said. Diplomacy and World Affairs major Adrienne Ruth (sophomore) was concerned with student behavior. “If Romney would have won I don’t think that people would have acted appropriately at all,” she said. “I didn’t sit there booing. I’m not going to throw a fit over it. He [Obama] is our president now.”
Debates such as these took place at election night events spanning the campus. Viewing parties occurred in residence halls, the Green Bean, the Center for Gender Equity and the Cooler.
The viewing party at the Cooler technically started at 5 p.m., but some students were excited enough to show up early. “We have been in the cooler since 4 p.m. and plan to stay here all night,” Nora Hexter (first-year) said. By 7:20 p.m. there were 215 people in the Cooler, according to Campus Safety.
Several international students, though unable to vote in U.S. elections, came out to watch the election proceedings as well. “It’s
exciting for me,” economics major Sid Savarat said. “I’ve always watched the elections from outside the
U.S. and imagined what it would be like there during that process.” Kaung Htet (first-year), an international student from Burma, agreed. “It’s
really an enriching experience,” he said. I watched Obama get re-elected but at
that time I didn’t really know much. Now, I have better perspective. This
is democracy at work.”
Justin Gerboc, Assistant Director of Student Life, was equally excited about the event. “I
was just sitting in the back [of the Cooler] and marveling that, for maybe 98 percent
of this room, this is their first election,” he said about the viewing party, which he helped to plan. “And for me, thinking about that and thinking about the role that this plays in people being politically active in the future, that just, that makes me really proud
to be at Oxy and to be able to pull off an event like this.”
The scene at the Green Bean was a little quieter, as students continued their studies while keeping tabs on the election results. “People can do their homework in here but also still keep in touch with the election,” economics major Hailey Mayer (senior) said. “It’s
sort of inspiring because students really care about it [the election] and it’s
refreshing to see.“
Two politically active student groups, Vote For Equality (VFE) and Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) hosted a joint viewing party in the CGE. QSA Communications Chair Jeremy Childs (sophomore) expressed the pride he felt for the work the groups had put in. “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” he said. “Things could not have gone better... Tonight—it’s just been one long celebration
here with the groups. Especially with VFE. We’ve had
multiple phone banks. We’ve been working with the campaign for so long;
it’s really incredible to see our hard work come to fruition.“
President of VFE Maggie Ferrer Caneng (junior) offered a more personal take on the results. “I just came out to my mom two days ago because I couldn’t vote without doing that. It’s a big moment for me,” she said. “I’m
feeling infinite. It’s a moment of possibility and I’m just feeling I
can go anywhere because I’ve got the world behind me doing it.”
An election panel also took place from 7 to 8:30 p.m., offering insights about the race from Occidental professors such as Regina Freer, Chris Kern, and Larry Caldwell. The panel was held as results were returned, and the panelists took turns commenting on them as they came in. Professor Kern even gambled at predicting the results of the election. “I
am going to be an optimist, I am going to say that Obama is going to
win and that we are going to take on to the senate, you can call me on
that tomorrow,” he said.
Election activities at Occidental were not constrained to election night, however. The Occidental Democrats (OxyDems) is a student club which focused on hosting phone banks in conjunction with Obama for America where students could call and talk with voters. “As a club the OxyDems had weekly phone banks in conjunction with Obama for America so students could get together and educate voters on important issues and make sure they had what they needed to vote,” club Co-Chair Gabe Galbraith said via telephone.
The OxyDems faced problems stemming from the common belief that California would go Democratic without outside help. Instead of concentrating their efforts on Occidental’s home state, the club focused on states facing tighter races. “OxyDems has mobilized students to go to phone banks for Obama, exporting calls to Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and Wisconsin,” Co-Chair Baillee Brown said in a telephone interview. “We’ve really pushed to support the swing states even though we can’t do much in Democratic California.”
Politics major Alex Acuna (senior) participated in another Democratic organization off-campus. He volunteered 20 hours a week, along with other Occidental students, at the United Democratic Headquarters in Pasadena. At the Headquarters they registered voters, made phone calls to encourage voter turnout, and attempted to get college and high school volunteers involved in the election. “As an office, our main focus is to target infrequent voters; Democrats who don’t usually get out and vote,” he said.
Maya Morales (junior) spoke about her activities, which had more of an on-campus nexus. “I
work for the Intercultural Community Center and we’ve been working hard
to do voter promotion and democracy promotion. That’s our theme for
this year, for this semester in particular,” she said. “…I feel like [there has] been just a lot of excitement about the election. A lot of
excitement about increasing voting with college students and at Oxy in
particular.”
Whatever the political beliefs of Occidental students, their
enthusiasm was palpable on election night and months before. Participation in
student groups, volunteer organizations and campaign events blossomed over the
fall semester and culminated on Nov. 6. Students seemed to embody the message that President Obama conveyed during his acceptance speech. “I have always
believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all
the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us,” he said, “so
long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep
fighting.”
mmm
fff
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