Students across the country report on the ground from their college campuses to show readers what it was like to watch election results come in at their schools. Below, a student from Howard University reports from Vice President Kamala Harris’s watch party headquarters.
For days, Howard University students anticipated the arrival of Nov. 5 like no other as they prepared for school alumna and presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris to spend election night on their campus. And then, finally, Election Day arrived.
The campus was almost fully shut down, leaving students with a tense and eerie feeling the morning of Election Day. Parts of the university that were usually the most populated were left silent and bare, save for large barriers, police officers, and gates restricting access to certain areas of the school. Even the normally busy Georgia Avenue quieted down in preparation for VP’s visit.
Students were largely prepared for this — at least, as well as we could be. An email sent by school officials warned students to expect heightened restrictions on campus and for the Harris-Walz watch party to be highly exclusive. But still, to actually experience it was another story. “Campus is really shut down,” sophomore Cameron Gamble tells Her Campus ahead of Harris’s arrival. “Secret service is not playing.”
And yet, when election night rolled around, Howard’s campus felt like one big, communal celebration.Â
Crowds of people rushed to the Yard (our version of a college’s “quad”) to be part of the school’s historic rally, to which visitors had an open invitation. Excitement emanated from the crowd, which ranged from elderly people, to Howard students, to infants in strollers. People could be found dancing, singing, and waiting hopefully as we watched votes being tallied and more polls closing nationwide.Â
Students were a key part of the festivities, with our 86th Miss Howard University Damaris Moore singing the national anthem and the Howard University Gospel Choir singing “Lift Every Voice” and “Oh Happy Day.” One of the most memorable surprises of the night was the inclusion of members of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, who performed strolls showcasing their unity and pride for Harris on campus. It was almost like homecoming, which took place a mere two week prior — except everyone, not just alumni, got to relish in the joy of Howard University.Â
In fact, some students, like junior accounting major Acacia Griffin, consider the rally to be even better than our main homecoming event. “This [rally] alone was better than Yard Fest,” Griffin says. “It was way more fun and way more put-together.”
As election results trickled in throughout the night, though, the excitement became mixed with angst. However, even as crowds began leaving the area, hope still remained. Students and other attendees walked through police guarded streets, waving their American flags in hand, still hopeful for what could occur overnight. Even though Harris wasn’t leading the polls, some could still find light in the moment. “It makes me feel really special as a Bison, knowing that a potential president came from here,” Arthur James, a psychology major, says. “It makes you realize you can do whatever you want to do.”
Unfortunately for Howard students, the news that broke on Nov. 6 was one many were unprepared for: Donald Trump will be the next president. But even with this shock, Howard student continued to come together. On the afternoon after Election Day, Harris took to the stage at Howard in front of a crowd full of cheering students to share a message of hope. “I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. But for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But here’s the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a billion of stars, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth, and service.” For many students, the speech was the remidner we needed that although this race is finished, her fight is not over — and neither is ours.