‘The saddest I’ve ever seen campus’: students react to the presidential election

After months of buildup to the election, The Associated Press called the 2024 presidential election for former President Donald Trump at 2:34 a.m. Nov. 6. Students woke up Wednesday morning to headlines announcing the historic decision. In the days that followed, reactions across campus varied.

In a Nov. 5 email to the student body, President Tom Stritikus wrote that regardless of the election’s outcome, the administration planned to continue their commitment to Occidental’s “bedrock principles of inclusion and belonging.”

Ixchel Hernandez (sophomore) — Hometown: Chicago, IL

Hernandez said she felt disturbed and mortified on Nov. 6, the day following the election. She said she feels particularly let down by the majority of Latino voters who cast their ballots for Trump.

“As a Latina, it is embarrassing for me to see my community support a racist, a homophobe [and] a convicted felon,” Hernandez said. “It’s beyond imaginable that people can just put these things aside.”

Hernandez said she is most afraid that there will be bans on abortions, increased deportation of immigrants and added obstacles for immigrants seeking asylum or citizenship. She said as a student, she is also concerned that Trump’s presidency will impact FAFSA and the general accessibility to education for her and her peers.

“Now that the Republicans have both the Senate and [most likely] the House, Trump basically has the green light to do and enforce whatever policy he thinks is fit for the country,” Hernandez said.

Daniel Muñoz (first year) — Hometown: Fullerton, CA

Muñoz said he assumed Harris would win because he was surrounded by a large amount of her supporters at Occidental. Because he was not anticipating Trump’s win, Muñoz said he is still figuring out how to react.

“I really didn’t realize how many new people are supporting [Trump] now, especially young people,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz said he chose not to vote because he does not see his values being well represented by either the Democratic or Republican Party.

“Looking forward to the future, I want a family, I want to get a house and these are things I didn’t feel confident about [happening] with the Biden-Harris [administration],” Muñoz said.

Muñoz said that while he sees his values better represented by the Republican party, he did not like the idea of Trump having his vote either.

“If I had to choose, gun-to-head, I would vote Republican,” Muñoz said. “But because of Trump and because of the corruption and [his] presentation of [the Republican] party, I was like ‘I can’t get behind this, I can’t support this.’”

Dash Atwood (junior) — Hometown: Bethlehem, PA

Atwood said that after four years of Trump in office, he was shocked that America would make the mistake of reelecting him. He said that in the days following the election, he noticed a sense of collective disappointment around campus.

“Walking around on Wednesday morning was probably the saddest I’ve ever seen campus,” Atwood said. “Every person I walked by just looked so upset.”

Atwood said it hurt more knowing that his home state of Pennsylvania was so crucial in Trump’s victory. He said he fears for what American democracy will look like after four more years of Trump in office.

“The checks and balances in the American government are kind of ruined now that the Supreme Court is stacked with Trump loyalists,” said Atwood. “The Supreme Court just removed a lot of limits on executive power, so it seems like we’ve started our descent on the slippery slope towards authoritarianism.”

Charlotte Guajardo (first year) — Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Guajardo said she flew home to cast her vote for Harris in person, because she did not trust the absentee ballot system.

“Being from California, your vote doesn’t feel like it counts as much, but in Georgia, it [feels] like such a crucial thing,” Guajardo said. “The fact that [Georgia] still went red, it kind of feels like my vote was wasted.”

Guajardo said she felt confused and fearful when Trump won Georgia.

“Everyone thought Georgia was going to turn blue, especially people in Georgia,” Guajardo said. “So it was a really confusing moment when all of us watched it go red.”

Guajardo said she is concerned for the rights of her friends and family members who are transgender, as well as those who have immigrated from Mexico.

Gabriela Gomes (first year) — from Porto, Portugal

Gomes said that despite not being eligible to vote in the U.S., she was excited to experience an election for the first time as a U.S. resident.

“The U.S. often sets trends for international politics, so in 2020, I was watching U.S. elections even though I wasn’t here,” Gomes said.

Gomes said she worries Trump’s presidency might fuel far-right trends in many European countries, including Portugal. As an international student, Gomes said Trump’s win could present some unique obstacles during the next four years.

“One of the main things that Trump talks about is migration,” said Gomes. “I’m relying on an F-1 visa, so I’m a bit scared that Trump could impose restrictions on [renewing] my visa because international students need to do that every two years.”

Gomes said she is also concerned that the cost of healthcare will increase and that she will not have the same resources as domestic students to cope with this change.

“If there’s more restrictions imposed to healthcare and access to it, I could [be] more easily affected,” Gomes said. “I don’t have this safe economic haven that some people here have.”

Grace Optekar (junior) — Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

Optekar said she was embarrassed and disappointed for Wisconsin to have been a state that solidified Trump’s win. She said she anticipated Harris to take the majority this election, particularly because Biden won Wisconsin in 2020.

“We had a convicted felon versus a woman, and we’re seeing the convicted felon win,” Optekar said. “We now have somebody who will be in office who has said out loud that he would like to be a dictator for the [first] day.”

Optekar said her biggest concerns following the election have to do with reproductive rights, human rights and the longevity of American democracy.

Max Cowan (first year) — Hometown: Albuquerque, NM

Cowan said he is feeling depressed and let down about Trump’s win. He said he is thinking about how this election resembles the 2016 election, but also how reactions to it differ.

“2016 felt like a fluke because of the Electoral College, but this year he also got the popular vote,” Cowan said. “Even with the same result as 2016, I feel way more hopeless [this year].”

Cowan said that Trump’s win feels much more personal than it did in 2016.

“It’s such a letdown knowing that, being able to vote this year, people my age are responsible for his win,” Cowan said. “Whereas in 2016, it felt like my peers and I were detached because we were just observing as children.”

Cowan said he worries about how Trump’s presidency will affect certain people across the country.

“I don’t think [Trump being in office] will impact me much because I’m an upper-class, straight, white male,” Cowan said. “But I think that other people are going to get hurt a lot.”

Contact Estel Garrido-Spencer at garridospenc@oxy.edu