Students on campus watch the inauguration

Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 20. Students gathered in Forum Theater and around campus to watch, as Trump became the first president without government or military experience.

The Politics Club sponsored the event in Forum Theater to view the inauguration, but there was a smaller turnout likely because many students had class during the time of the inauguration.

“I did know about the watch party; unfortunately, I couldn’t make it since I was working while watching it,” said Michael Badalamenti, ’17. “I watched the inauguration with a few of my friends in Wolfington. We were eager to hear President Trump’s speech. Watching the inauguration is important simply because we need to be informed for ourselves and listening to someone speak instead of hearing it reported on later gives us a much better picture of what actually occurred.”

Many students watched as first time voters and the enhancements in technology were apparent in the way that many students observed and participated.

Lia Facchiano, ’20, opted to watch the inauguration on Snapchat, as opposed to the more traditional method of TV.

“I was doing homework in class at the time,” Facchiano said.

Other students had similar problems. They watched what they could, when they could, like Brenna Golden ’20.

“I thought it was interesting to see the shift of power from two opposite people,” Golden said. “Despite the differences it was [a] peaceful transition, which I thought was nice to see. I thought it was important to watch no matter how you felt politically because it is monumental for the country.”

While many Saint Joseph’s University students watched from their pockets or from their televisions, Christian Bills, ’18, had the opportunity to see the inauguration in Washington, D.C.

After being nominated by an anonymous source, Bills was accepted into a leadership summit where students from across the country came to together to work on proposals for high priority issues. Some of the issues included women’s empowerment, the environment, and technology.

“It was an incredible experience,” Bills said. “Either way, regardless of who won the election I was going anyway. It was a very unique experience. You had all these different people who either voted for him or didn’t vote for him, but all these people were there to try to witness history.”