As of noon Tuesday, the nation is in Barack Obama’s hands. In front of a crowd estimated to exceed one million people, Obama assumed the presidency from George W. Bush and became the first African American president in U.S. history.
Just because Fletcher Daniels wasn’t in Washington, D.C., doesn’t mean he wasn’t emotionally moved by President Barack Obama’s first words as the 44th president. As the chemistry senior joined about 300 others at the Union Ballroom to watch the historic inauguration, Daniels said he was overwhelmed with emotion.
Seeing President Barack Obama deliver his inaugural address was worth everything — the crowds, cold and early morning, education junior Trisha Langlois said.
Americans weren’t the only ones to witness history Tuesday. International students also stopped to reflect on the impact the change in presidential leadership might have on them and their home countries abroad.
As President Obama was sworn in and millions around the world witnessed history, members of the MSU community celebrated the event around campus. Students gathered and watched the events on TV in the International Center and hundreds of MSU faculty, staff and students crowded the MSU Union Ballroom to view the inauguration on a projection screen.
Read a full transcript of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address here.
Washington — It’s official: Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States. Obama told a crowd of more than a million that stretched from the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in the distance that the nation must choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
While most people in Washington, D.C., will be fighting off other spectators at the National Mall today, 2006 MSU alumnus David Thurow will be trying to tame a different kind of crowd — the one expected to gather at the bar where he works.
During the week of the presidential inauguration, citizens from across the nation have made the trek to Washington, D.C., to see President-elect Barack Obama take the oath of office. Here are the stories of a few of those with MSU and Michigan ties.
For Mike Green, driving to Washington, D.C., to take part in the week’s inauguration activities was well worth the 10-plus hour car ride. That’s because Green, president of Lansing’s United Auto Workers Local 652, has more at stake than simply ushering in a new president this inauguration.
Members of the MSU Debate Team took a more active role in inauguration activities when they debated President-elect Barack Obama’s energy and environmental plans. The debate, held Monday morning at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, pitted MSU against Wake Forest University.
For those of you stuck in East Lansing for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, don’t fret. There are still a number of ways to celebrate the event here at MSU.
Washington, D.C. — The jam-packed crowds on the metro, the confused looks in the streets and the hundreds of port-a-potties around Capitol Hill were signs that by Sunday, many of the Inauguration enthusiasts had arrived in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. — Shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and bumper-to-bumper traffic couldn’t keep hundreds of thousands of political junkies away from Washington, D.C., Sunday for the kickoff of Inauguration Week. Pre-celebration estimates were that about 750,000 people would crowd into the area surrounding the Lincoln Memorial to watch the official Opening Ceremony, which was an entertaining mixture of celebrity guest appearances, uplifting speeches and performances of patriotic tunes.
Members of the MSU Debate Team will be in Washington, D.C., next week, but its top priority will not be seeing the inauguration.
MSU students will be scattered among the millions of people attending the inauguration — and each of them has their own reason for attending. But whether they are going for business or fun, they will all have the chance to join in one of the nation’s largest celebrations.
When the Rev. Michael Murphy travels to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration, he won’t just be celebrating. He will be preparing for a new job.
President-elect Barack Obama will become this nation’s first minority president Tuesday. But not everybody’s voice is being heard, and it’s time for that to change. It’s time to truly become a nation of one.
The inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama is seven days away, and MSU students — along with millions of others from across the nation — are planning trips to Washington, D.C., to witness the event. Below is a list of items students should keep in mind if they’re heading to the nation’s capital.
The moment international relations sophomore Brad Parker learned President-elect Barack Obama won, he knew he and his friends would be in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration Jan. 20.