"Nah Nah Nah Nah.. Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye," chanted 1,000 D.C. students gathered in front of The White House after Sen. Barack Obama from Illinois was elected as the 44th President of the United States.Shortly after news networks called the win for Obama, a literal explosion of voices could be heard across the campus and throughout the city. In a spirit of passion, students ran in droves to the white house to assemble in an impromptu celebration.
"I felt like it was a historical moment...I was overcome by the camaraderie and excitement that I felt from the College Democrats party that when everyone was shuffling out of the Marvin Center I felt compelled to run," said freshman Kate Chaloux, in a raspy voice from all the screaming last night.
In front of the white house, hundreds of students chanted "Yes, We Can!" or "Yes, We did!" continuing to sing the song "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" by Steam.
For the first time in history, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama reached out to the youth vote and mobilized a historically overlooked subset of the population. It was clear last night that students from around D.C. (Georgetown, GWU, Catholic, Howard, Etc.)
Running through the streets of D.C. with screaming college students and a 3 piece brass band playing celebratory tunes, stopping traffic and high-fiving people through car windows...all of these images will pervade my memories of last night's election.I feel for the first time that the voice of the youth was heard. I am now truly proud to be an American, and I will never forget Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
