The Center for Community Engagement held a watch party on Nov. 5 for students to watch as states were called for the presidential candidates.
Students gathered in Rettner Hall to talk with peers and eat free food. The mood was light in the beginning, and the chatter was loud, but this faded quickly as more states were called for Donald Trump. This event only went on until 10 p.m., so the winner was not officially announced there.
The following day, many professors advised their students to take a mental health day or week in light of the news that Donald Trump would be America’s president again.
“[I’m] disappointed at best, terrified at worst,” shared freshman Emerson Davis regarding the results of the election. “As a trans man, I’m terrified for my rights and to be myself.”
Another student, a political science major who asked to stay anonymous, shared that they are “very disappointed.” They also said that they are “just sad for a lot of people because [they] know a lot of people are going to be affected by this.”
“I think there’s going to be a lot more tension for a lot of people and a lot of unnecessary stress,” they said when asked for their predictions for the election’s effects on college students.
They also mentioned the worry and uncertainty about many issues, like student loan repayments, now that the president is changing.
They said that there is still hope for a change by midterm elections, as this “exposes a lot of flaws in the voting system and the way people are educated about elections.”
They said that they hope midterm elections go in another direction.
As Davis shared, “even small things have a large impact on the local community […] it’s not just the president that makes the decisions.”
