Grand Valley celebrates Inauguration

People were cheering, hugging, jumping up and down and waving American flags as Barack Obama was announced as the nation's 44th president. Many had tears in their eyes as they witnessed the historic inauguration at a campus-wide event on January 20. "America United: A Grand Valley Celebration" was held in the Fieldhouse Arena on the Allendale Campus.

A video was shown featuring several students who were in Washington for the inauguration. That video can be downloaded through iTunes here . Following the video were scholarly reflections by several faculty members and a speech from President Haas. Video of the ceremony can be downloaded here .

A live Webcast of the speakers and a link to the inauguration was made available on Grand Valley's homepage. In addition to Allendale, viewing locations were made available at the Eberhard Center, Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, Holland Meijer Campus, Muskegon Regional Center and Traverse City University Center. More than 1,500 people participated at one of the sites.

Michael Blair, a junior majoring in psychology, attended the Allendale celebration. "I am excited to see so many people coming together to witness the inauguration," said Blair. "This is a pivotal moment in history. Being half African American, this makes me feel like I can accomplish anything."

Caitlin Cherney, a junior from Muskegon, said she wanted to experience the moment with others at Grand Valley. "There's an excitement within the student body," said Cherney. "This is a big step for our society. I heard about the celebration and I wanted to be a part of this memorable moment."

At the Fieldhouse, remarks were made by President Thomas J. Haas; Jeanne Arnold, vice president for Inclusion and Equity; Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies; and faculty members Mark Richards and Louis Moore before the start of the inauguration.

Whitney said our nation seems larger today than it did yesterday — more filled with possibility. "This inauguration shows that our system of government works. The promise of our democracy is fulfilled and the vision of our founders is redeemed," he said.

Richards, associate professor of political science, called Obama a transformational leader whose story inspires and gives hope, and one whose story is not fully written. He led the Fieldhouse crowd in a chant as everyone stood and shouted, "My president is Black!" This prompted cheering and clapping as several waved their American flags.

Several Grand Valley students traveled to the nation's capital to watch the inaugural events, including four political science students who were selected to attend an academic seminar through the Washington Center. One of those students, Selma Tucker, a senior from Buchanan, said he could feel the energy as he stood on the Mall in front of the capitol. "It was packed and we were all huddled around each other," said Tucker. "Everyone wanted to talk. There was a lot of chatter. One man held up his cell phone so his dad could hear the excitement and about 40 of us yelled ‘hello' to him."

Tucker said it got very quiet when Obama began to speak. He said: "The crowd hushed. We were hungry to hear it, to hear him repeat the words for the oath of office, to know it was really happening. And, after he said ‘So help me God,' fireworks went off."

Tucker admitted he was expecting a rousing speech from Obama, but received something different. "He has given so many moving speeches, but his first as president was very disciplined, very sobering," Tucker said. "He was so honest with us. He didn't necessarily say what we wanted to hear, but what we needed to hear — that we have a lot of hard work ahead. It's as if he said, ‘go get warm and let's get to work.'"