This past Tuesday night, while the West Chester University campus was impatiently awaiting one of the most important announcements of the past four years- who our next president would be, the Student Government Association threw an election night party in order to help make the wait a little easier.They filled the Sykes Student Union Ballrooms with games, contests, free food and prizes, as well as a huge TV showing the CNN results, a United States map colored in as the states were called. There were also political themed mocktails, such as “The Democrat” which was blueberry lemonade, and “The Republican” which was strawberry lemonade.
Evan Lieb, a first-year student who worked with the Legislative Affairs Committee on SGA was hopeful for the event.
“Voter turnout was huge today with college-age students. I hope the party tonight is just as good,” he said. In regards to the election, Lieb was “nervous, but optimistic.”
There were stations around the Ballrooms inviting students to play State Bingo and to make pins to show support for their candidate. However, when the big screen Anderson Cooper announced that Barack Obama had won Pennsylvania, much of the room stopped to cheer.
Marcus Harrison, the RD in Sanderson Hall was one of the Obama supporters in the room.
“It’s so important because so many college-age students got involved. They got concerned,” he began. “On a personal level, this fills the wishes and dreams of my ancestors as an African American.” Harrison continued to talk about his grandmother’s grandmother, who was a slave, and how this election was for her.
The sentiment of being so important was reflected over and over again through the night.
“This election is so freaking important,” Justin W. R. Smith, a third-year student began. “I know Obama isn’t God, I wish other people would realize that, but I do think he will really make a difference.
“He already won Pennsylvania; he’s going to win tonight. This is a really big deal for students,” he predicted.
Smith wore eight Obama pins on his shirt, claiming “eight for ’08” was his good luck charm.
Very few people would say that this election wasn’t extremely important, and regardless of party lines, most everyone had reasons for believing this.
Chad Meyers, a first-year student, was worried that coming to a public school as a republican would have him in the minority, but was happy to see that he was equally represented on campus.
“Students have a huge voice in this election,” he said. “And they should, it’s the most important race of our time.”
Johnny Wood, a third-year student summed up the general feeling of many students on campus as he waited to hear the final verdict. “After everything that happened over the last eight years, our age group has realized how important politics really are. They can’t just sit on the sidelines. After tonight, I hope students will see that they aren’t as divided as they think they are. We all have a common goal.”
Jenn Rothstein is a second-year student majoring in English. She can be reached at JR649299@wcupa.edu