It was quiet.

In front of Hinds Hall, nearly 300 Syracuse University students crowded around a parked black SUV on the Quad Tuesday night. With the windows rolled down and sunroof open, the vehicle was blasting the presidential acceptance speech of Sen. Barack Obama.

Off to one side of the SUV was a single fist raised in the air. Closer, there were students of all races with their arms around each other in a circle. Some were wiping away tears as others listened tentatively.

It was near midnight on the SU Quad as Election Day ended, and Obama was announced the next president of the United States.

‘I’m out here to celebrate change,’ said Melissa Montanez, a sophomore political science major, as she and a friend ran to the Quad. ‘America has gone through so much, and this election made me think I can make a change. And, as a Hispanic, it opened the door for minorities.’

Rumors of a Quad rush spread just after 11 p.m. Students came from all directions -Schine Student Center, the Mount, Comstock and Euclid avenues – to join the impromptu celebration, most of them wearing pajamas.

‘My president looks like me, yo,’ said a black male as he ran into Schine while the majority of students ran in the opposite direction.

Shortly after 11 p.m., the Quad had seemed rather quiet as small groups strolled through. But within a half hour, students dominated the space. They cheered, danced, cried, screamed. Some carried Obama-Biden 2008 signs, some homemade.

Most students were speechless, resorting to screams rather than words. One student banged a frying pan with a metal spatula over his head.

Cameras flashed and champagne popped while smoke filled the air. Students grasped open beer cans and twirled them, intentionally spraying beer over those in attendance, as others chanted the words, ‘Yes we can.’

It was a unified chorus of voices that echoed from Hendricks Chapel to Link Hall: ‘O-bam-a, O-bam-a.’ ‘No more Bush.’ ‘U-S-A.’Some students were celebrating on a more personal level. There was a female student kneeling toward Hendricks, her hands together in a sign of prayer. She sat there for nearly 30 seconds on her own.

Throughout the area, people were entwined in hugs. Over and over again, the words ‘I don’t believe it,’ were spoken.

‘This is an exciting time,’ said freshman psychology major Lisa Morris, wearing her Obama T-shirt. ‘This was especially important, because it was my first election.’

After the speech ended and the SUV drove away, students gathered once again and sang the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’ The group paused before the ‘land of the free’ line and everyone erupted in screams. The end of song was drowned out by screams.

‘This is the best birthday present someone could get,’ said sophomore political science major Nick Smiroldo. ‘It’s amazing to be a part of this change. I will remember this day forever.’

kaoutram@syr.edukmimamur@syr.edu

Published on November 4, 2008 at 12:00 pm