On Tuesday, Nov. 8, New Voices asked students across America and Canada for their first reactions to Donald Trump’s poll-defying win in the 2016 presidential election. Students share their experiences of the election on campus and their initial thoughts on the outcome:
Adam Jacobs, George Washington University, Freshman
“Last night I witnessed panic, fear, happiness, stress, relief, anger, denial. I live in Washington D.C., just a stone throw away from the White House. When the election results came in, we poured onto the street. Trump fans donned their red hats, Hillary fans still held signs high. By that time of night the race was over and Trump was the President-elect. For the sake of the country and the millions of people whose lives will change when Trump takes office, I hope he does good. And if he doesn’t, I hope we can stop him.”
Nicole Zelniker, Guilford University, Senior
“For me, Judaism is about supporting one another, whether it’s the Jews in Charleston that came together with the black churches after the shooting last year or organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace supporting Palestinians halfway around the world. A Trump presidency does not indicate, to me, that over 50 percent of this country does not share those values. A Trump presidency means millions of Muslims will be told they are not worth anything. It means millions of women will learn that they do not have the rights to their own bodies. It means millions of undocumented immigrants will live in fear that they will be split from their families. Fear and hatred are not Jewish values, and they are not American values. They are Trump’s values, and they make me fear for our country’s future.”
Rachel Marcus, UC Berkeley, Senior
“With my dual Canadian citizenship, I’m starting the bidding for my hand in marriage at $10,000 + a puppy.
UPDATE: adult adoption is also available.”
Anonymous, UC Berkeley, Senior
“I’m content that Trump is the president instead of Hillary. Hillary was not a trustworthy figure: Bengazi, emails deleted, money taken secretly from the super wealthy, a history of Bill abusing women and Hillary supporting him. I really want a woman to become our President, just not a corrupt political figure like Hillary.
Even though I don’t agree with some of Bernie’s socialist policies, I admired his simple living and respectable character. It should have been Trump vs. Bernie. I still would have preferred Trump, but Democrats would have had a better chance of winning with a person of stronger character.”
Ethan Sabourin, University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), Freshman
“Now I am lost. On this anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, truly the beginning of the Holocaust, I have no words for what has happened. Now it is on us. It doesn’t matter that we’re here, in Canada, where people laugh off the deep seeded hatred that boils in the melting pot of our neighbor. We have to acknowledge the evil, and yet do good. What can we be if not the best that we can be.
Love the people around you, whoever they are. Fight for those who are scared, and have every right to be. Let the world know that people are more than just the American electoral college, we are human. We care. We won’t let a demagogue, with full control over the most powerful country in the world, steer us towards darkness. Fight to make our country the brightest goddamn light in the attic. Let it shine down like the sun upon Americans so that they know that it is possible to be good. I don’t mean repeating the tired ad campaigns of our government, that boast about multiculturalism without addressing the same white-supremacy, the same hatred, that exists just south of us. I mean helping those who need it, defending Aboriginal land, knowing and acknowledging our history and our present.”
