By Zac Taylor
Editor-In-Chief 

Last Tuesday, there was a rare legitimate reason to skip class. During Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, students and faculty crammed into the Students Activities Center and the Loft above Café 939 to watch the 44th president sworn into office on the projection screens, in a similar fashion to the million plus that was in Washington D.C. that afternoon. “I’m glad [the ceremony] was safe. It’s really a cool celebration. It’s important to see that it’s still possible to make positive change after the last eight years,” said Jose Moreno, a 2nd semester student who watched the live broadcast in the loft.

“Decisions made will be from a different light,” said Noshi Curry, 3rd semester student. “Look at [Obama’s] former work—he wasn’t very high in the ranks to begin with. He has the best of two worlds, he’ll be able to make decisions that will be better for everyone as a whole.”

Kevin Johnson from the Office of Cultural Diversity helped put the event together. “[Obama] let people feel the vibe of what this all means. I think the allusion to George Washington was huge. He subtly referred to the fact that the space where he was standing on was a place where slaves were sold,” Johnson said.

Cake was served, commemorative coffee mugs were handed out, and cries of “Yes we did!” were shouted throughout the SAC in the wake of Obama’s speech throughout the afternoon. “In its entirety, [the speech] was just very motivating—how he wanted to coalesce America into a united whole. I’m looking forward to his term as president,” said Marc Davis, 8th semester student.