By Daniela L. Ginsburg
Boston University News Service
Last night, Boston University’s Warren Towers hosted an election watch party for students. The room was filled with students and mixed feelings.
The watch party via CNN allowed students to stay involved with the election within reach of their dorms. As the voting results were released, students audibly expressed both their satisfaction and disappointment with the results.
Nathan Ramirez, a sophomore at BU studying biomedical engineering, said he came to last night’s watch party to see students’ reactions as well as his own.
“While I know what I have at stake, I don’t know what other people have at stake,” Ramirez said.
He said he feels nervous about the election cycle and noted that as a first-generation Hispanic immigrant, the election cycle will impact him as a student.
“If I lose these scholarships because of the public education system being like, screwed over, I most likely won’t be able to come here anymore,” Ramirez said.
He said his family immigrated here, and he sees the election affecting his family as they’ve had previous instances with ICE detaining them.
“What can we do honestly if the country does not want us or love us back?” Ramirez said.
Students also came to watch the election as first-time voters.
Rishi Karsarla, a freshman at BU studying neuroscience, said he came to the event to understand the voting process and the importance of swing states.
“I had to research both candidates and really look at both their policies and see which one would be would be best for the country,” Karsarla said.
Ryan Chan, a freshman at BU studying sociology, said he had feelings of hopefulness and anxiety, and came to the watch party to stay informed. He saw the election as personally impacting him.
“It could definitely impact, I think, some of the rights that I may have being part of the LGBTQ+ community and being a person of color,” he said.
Many voting station polls closed late, pushing back the counting of votes. During the watch party, students felt a sense of eagerness for the election results.
Jasleen Kaur, a freshman at BU studying biology, said that watching the results play out created a sense of anxiety.
“I personally have a feeling it might be like one person might win based on votes, but the other one might win based on electoral votes,” she said. “I feel like it might be a similar situation, like the 2016 election.”
The night ended early at 10:45 p.m., as the event hosts decided to close early and urged students to finish on their own time, longing for results.
