On Tuesday, November 4, the excitement that this historic election season has generated finally reached a culmination as every news station began announcing the results from across the country.

Colgate Votes 2008, a coalition of politically active groups on campus, hosted an Election Night party at Donovan’s Pub to provide a venue for nervous students to watch the outcome on a large projector with their peers.

Colgate Votes has been busy registering students and hosting events like this one to encourage political interest on campus over the course of the semester. Some of the student organizations involved are Democracy Matters, SAVE, the College Republicans and Democrats and the Greek community. Democracy Matters co-leader junior Sarah Finn, was very pleased with the high turnout.

“It is so great to see how many people are coming out to show their enthusiasm about this election,” she said. “Over the past year, we have seen a real rise in political interest on campus, and I just hope we can use this momentum and carry it beyond tonight.”

Those in attendance on Tuesday enjoyed pizza and cake, and 100 lucky few snagged free t-shirts in the first minutes of the event. Members of Colgate Votes had prepared cutout representations of each state, and posted them under “Obama” or “McCain” on a wall as news poured in. The atmosphere was bipartisan, with students proudly advertising their preferences on buttons or t-shirts.

Democracy Matters member junior Julia Romero said of the enthusiasm in the room, “I think it’s awesome! I mean, I wish I could see the screen, but it’s cool that there are enough people here that you can’t.”

“It’s a great event for a very politically inactive campus,” junior Matt Geduldig added. “I’m surprised to see so many people turn out.”

As the night progressed, however, the Republican supporters in the room grew decidedly gloomier. Among one group of friends sporting McCain/Palin t-shirts, there was talk of moving to Canada. Many refused to comment for this article. Junior Sam Horn was one McCain supporter who struck a note of compromise.

“Regardless of how you lean, I think what’s most important for our country right now is that we come out of this election cycle more or less united with the commitment to improve our situation in the years to come,” Horn said.

When Senator Barack Obama was named President-elect around 11:00 p.m. that night, cheers of joy erupted in Donovan’s Pub. Junior Elena Dowling was one of those who stayed for the announcement.

“I know Senator Obama faces a lot of challenges, but I believe that he is capable of inspiring people in our country, as you can clearly see in this room,” Dowling said. “A lot of people I have talked to are finally getting excited about politics. It’s just such an exciting time.”