Jumbos pack Hotung to view inauguration

    For students unable to make the trek to Washington, D.C. to see yesterday's inauguration in person, a viewing party in the campus center was the next best option.
    The event, a toned-down version of on-campus programming on election night, drew a packed crowd. It was sponsored by the Experimental College.
    Leading up to the inauguration, student enthusiasm reached a level not seen since Nov. 4. Despite the presence of a large projector in Hotung to reduce crowding around the television screens, the café was at full capacity by the time Reverend Rick Warren delivered the invocation.
    For many college students, watching the inauguration was a fitting end to a hard-fought effort to get the new president elected.
    "It's really a great thing … all the work that Students for Obama put in last semester," junior Ben Silver, a member of Tufts Students for Obama and a frequent campaign volunteer, said. "It's great to see it all culminate today in Barack Obama's inauguration."
    Experimental College Dir-ector Robyn Gittleman, who said that the idea to sponsor the event surfaced only recently, noted the historical significance of the inauguration.
    "Everybody that watched the civil rights movement unfold can hardly believe it, but this is great. He's the right person for the right time," she said.
    Students shared similar sentiments, saying the event had both political and social implications. "I think it's really exciting … I was thinking about how it's going to affect all our lives that there's the first black president. I think it's going to change the way Americans view the world and the way the world views America," junior Alex Blum said.
    "A lot of people see it as a new future since Bush is gone, and a lot of people are hopeful for Obama and hoping the nation will go in a new direction," senior Heather Wick said.
    The crowd in the campus center went silent when Obama took the podium after his oath of office. "It was great with the speech that he addressed all the points I wanted to hear, and it was really inspiring," sophomore Sophie Lyons said.
    The campus center began to empty out after the speech as students returned to their daily schedules after witnessing a moment that will go down in the history books.
    "I think it's a great time to be in college, because [Obama's inauguration is] one of the most momentous things that will happen in my lifetime or that has happened yet, and it's really exciting to be surrounded by a bunch of young people all going through the same thing," sophomore Elinor Cannon said.