As Nov. 2 drifted into the early hours of Nov. 3, a handful of dedicated Penn College Democrats sat dispersed in a once-filled boardroom in Huntsman Hall, listening intently to the election results in deathly silence. The news was not favorable for their candidate, Sen. John Kerry.
"I'm a Red Sox fan, and I'm superstitious. I can't say anything right now," College freshman Joe Gross said, refusing to make any predictions until the outcome was official.
As results grew less favorable for Kerry, the crowd dwindled rapidly. When it was announced that Florida had gone to President George W. Bush and that a Republican win in Ohio would secure a Bush victory, one student hit a table with his fist, and another put her face in her hands.
Despite her disappointment, College junior and College Democrats Vice President Jessica Smyth remained hopeful.
"It's going to be OK," Smyth said.
Last night, the College Democrats rented out a room in Huntsman Hall so that Kerry supporters could view the election results together on two big-screen TVs. The mood early this morning was drastically different than it had been at the beginning of yesterday evening.
Starting at 9 p.m., student Democrats, decked out in Kerry regalia, congregated in a room filled with chips, soda and high expectations, not to mention nervous tension.
Equipped with a laptop and a number of DVDs, College freshman Cynthia Wright had planned to stay in the room well into the night.
"My last month and a half has been dedicated to this election," she said. "My friends think I'm crazy."
As results from the election poured in, crowd noise alternated between noisy buzzing and silent lulls.
Cheers erupted around 9:30 p.m. when College senior and College Democrats President Rich Eisenberg announced that, excluding one division not yet counted, votes on campus for Kerry had greatly outnumbered those for Bush.
Yet, it might have been an MSNBC analyst's estimate that only 17 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had cast ballots -- no different than in the 2000 election -- that elicited the greatest response from students.
Murmurs of disbelief and defiance swept through the crowd. One indignant student shouted, "You can't see us!"
The message was clear -- more than Bush versus Kerry, this election for many students has been about the emancipation of youth political power.
Students leapt to their feet and pumped their fists with fervor when it was announced that Pennsylvania belonged to Kerry. Cries of, "We did our job!" erupted from some of those gathered.
Many of the members present volunteered with the Kerry campaign not only on Election Day, but also during the many preceding months.
"We have shown that Penn is not an apathetic campus," Smyth said. "We won Pennsylvania, and that is a mandate for Pennsylvania's youth to fight for their ideals and beliefs no matter who becomes president."
