By Taylor Paraboschi
Cheers and chants of “Yes we can!” erupted in the main dining room of the Student Center Tuesday night as Barack Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 presidential election, while others went home disappointed with the result.
“It feels good to be on the winning side for once,” said senior Bradley Schloss.
Students gathered in the main dining room from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. to track the polls and results of the election as they came in from the individual states. While watching, students had the opportunity to indulge in various types of junk food, such as pizza and soda, while they created hand-made political buttons to support their candidate and watched the results on a projector screen.
“I think that it is amazing,” said Peter DiSilvio, president of the Student Government Association, when asked about the turnout for the Election Night party. “The 2004 election was nothing like this. The energy is very palpable. This proves that it is a great time to be a Hofstra student.”
Junior Sam Jaffe echoed DiSilvio’s sentiments. “It’s really exciting,” Jaffe said, adding that he thought that the final presidential debate and all of the other Debate ’08 activities were the greatest events held at the University this year.
Both Hofstra for Obama and Students for McCain set up tables throughout the night with laptops so they could track the election coverage and results themselves. “Our biggest concerns (were) Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio,” said senior Angela Cuffey.
She added that Obama represented not only African-Americans, but all the other people who have struggled to be recognized in this country. “This election is for all of our ancestors who fought and struggled for the right to vote. I hope people take the time out to reflect and share this moment,” Cuffey said.
Freshman Republican Kathryn Chlosta also said she felt the historic significance of this election. “This election is a historical moment, and it was cool to be a part of it.” Chlosta did say she was disappointed with the result, but added that the record turnout was as expected, and that “even though the McCain camp had less funding than Obama, they still put up a good fight.”
Not all reactions were ones of excitement, as McCain supporters remained solemn throughout the shouts and cheers. “It will be a transitional and educational election,” said sophomore Anthony Lucci, a sophomore who is president of Students for McCain. “Americans will realize years from now that the change we need is not the change we are about to get.”
Something notable about this election was the interest and activism among younger voters. “Its refreshing,” said Robin Doublebower, president of the College Democrats. “You didn’t see this four years ago. It’s good to see people so involved. As I was walking around today, a large amount of students were going around asking students if they were involved and if they had voted.”
Sean Hutchinson, the president of the University’s chapter of the NAACP said that this election wasn’t just about an African-American running and winning the presidential election for the first time, but rather about people coming together to create change. “Voters went out because they felt the urgency to be heard. Voters for both parties realized that they had the power to make the change,” he said, adding that he was “stunned at first,” when Obama was announced as the victor. “It didn’t really set in that he had won until the TV networks said it. That made it real, and I started to tear up.”
The election “instilled [in me] a sense of value and showed that the glass ceiling was no longer in place,” Hutchinson said.
Freshman Eric Levy said that the fact that Obama won the red states shows that “people are ready for a change. That they are ready for the eight-year reign to end.”
“This is amazing,” said junior Amber Young, “It’s better than I could have hoped for. I can’t believe this is happening. I never thought I’d see the first black president.”
(Erin Furman)