By Abigail Stocker
Boston University News Service
Northeastern students assembled together to watch live coverage of the 2024 Presidential Election at the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute on Nov. 5.
The watch party began at 7:30 p.m. with CNN playing on the screen.
The event was in collaboration with Cultural and Spiritual Life, Northeastern’s Student Government Association and NUVotes. The watch party was campus-wide and hosted in a large conference space, and the group provided pizza and refreshments for students to grab while watching the results pour in.
By 8 p.m., there were around 70 people gathered in the room. Many had their laptops open, getting work done and grabbing a bite to eat while eagerly watching the live results come in.
“It brings me back. My mom and I used to do the same thing,” said Marcus, a freshman at Northeastern University. Marcus was able to vote for the first time this year, casting his ballot in New York .
“I am looking at this election more than I have ever done in the past,” said Marcus. “Especially with issues of women’s rights.”
The election is touching more than the United States, as a group of foreign exchange students who gathered at the watch party said.
“The election is relevant to us in terms of both safety and the economy,” said Hielko, a senior foreign exchange student from the Netherlands.
Riy, a freshman at Northeastern, said that the watch party allowed them to feel a sense of community while watching the election results roll in.
“It definitely makes me feel less isolated because everyone’s here watching it together,” said Riy, who voted in person in Massachusetts.
As students anxiously watched to see which way the swing states would go, many said that they felt their vote didn’t matter because they voted in a non-battleground state.
“It’s not going to make a difference,” said Marcus. “It’s more so the principle of voting.”
“I feel like it would have mattered more if I was in a swing state,” said Riy. “I voted in Mass. and like it’s going to be blue anyways, so it’s not making that big of a difference.”
As the night continued on, many students who voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris discussed their increase in anxiety as more results began to trickle in.
“I was a little bit more optimistic about some of the swing states and those swing states haven’t got definite projections yet, but I did not think it was going to be as close as it,” said Oliva, a senior at Northeastern who has worked on civic engagement in Massachusetts.
Regardless of the election outcome, Benedikt, a Northeastern Sophomore, said they’re cynical about how the country will look over the upcoming weeks.
“There is no winning in this situation,” said Benedikt. “We are still going to be facing months of issues.”
The John D. O’Bryant African American Institute at Northeastern will continue to provide resources regarding the election. The group is hosting a post-election discussion on Nov. 6 from 6 -7:30 p.m. at the same venue for students attempting to process the results. Links to RSVP for the event are found on their Instagram page, @nu_jdoaai.
