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Students, faculty and administration watched as Obama was sworn in as president in front of millions in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Obama sworn in with onlookers across the nation
The Pointer
jglod170@uwsp.edu
All across the campus, students, faculty, and administration seemed to pause as Barack Obama took the stage to become the 44th President of the United States on Jan. 20th. Televisions were set up throughout the Dreyfus University Center. It was projected in the theater and some faculty members even cancelled class for this one moment.
To many, it was a monumental occasion as they watched the inauguration and to some it was a symbol of great change in American politics.
Race had been an issue for the whole campaign surrounding Obama and many saw this as a great step forward towards the “dream” that Martin Luther King, Jr. had spoken so adamantly about.
One faculty member compared it to baseball, one of his favorite pastimes.
“When Jackie Robinson hit his first home run, stole home for the first time, won the Rookie of the Year Award, and later became the National League MVP, that the debate about blacks and their role in major league baseball was far from over, but was forever changed,” said Dennis Riley, political science professor. “The balloon of racism in baseball had a slow leak and it would never fly as high again. Eventually it would crash. The opponents of at least a rough equality between the races in the game were now, as they say, on the wrong side of history and the rest of us knew it. That’s more or less what happened in politics and government yesterday afternoon. The discussion will never be the same. The reality will never be the same. A long way to go, but a symbol so powerful its importance cannot be denied.”
Even further, Professor Riley realized the hope he saw within the crowds for the future with Obama as the president.
“The second context is one of remarkable hope and optimism. Everyone reporting said you could feel it in the air,” said Riley. “People believe that the change they voted for – or even against – was coming and that it might just be a good thing. All the public opinion surveys show that Americans believe things are going to get better and that Barack Obama is part of the reason.”
Some students even attended the festivities and witnessed the speeches firsthand. Chad Haanen was one of the millions that went to see Obama speak. He had to board the train in the midst of darkness to reach Washington D.C. by 5 a.m. where he finally got into the ceremony around 9:30 a.m.
“It was like trying to outsmart and predict the actions of four million other people,” said Haanen. “Everywhere there was a line.”
Haanen was even more astounded after the ceremonies, seeing his location on Google Maps.
“I found out I was about 2,000 feet from the swearing in,” said Haanen. “This seemed very far, but I was considerably close. There were people backed up behind the Washington Monument almost up to the Lincoln Memorial, which is two miles away.”
Despite the early morning, long lines and miles of viewers, Haanen walked away with a profound experience and sense of meaning about the occasion.
“[Obama’s inauguration] means the beginning of a new age of self-consciousness for our nation. We can no longer ignore the consequences of our actions,” said Haanen. “We will be more aware of how our energy uses impacts the earth, our deficit spending will destroy our future and how continued aggressive behavior in the global community will impact our security.”
Professor Riley points out that Obama focused on three main things throughout his speech.
“First, it was a pretty thorough going repudiation of the Bush Administration. Second, it was a sober – almost somber really – call to collective action,” said Riley. “We’ve got serious problems; they can only be addressed collectively. Finally, it had a little bit of a hint of the kinds of things we need to work on, in terms of the economic mess, health care, an energy future that does not depend much on fossil fuels, etc.”
Obama’s speech reached across boundaries speaking about and to people from our country and the world. It looks at some of the biggest issues and concerns facing the United States such as the economy, Iraq, foreign relations and much more. It can be viewed on YouTube and many other Web sites.
