The presidential election finally ended.
Donald Trump became president-elect after beating Hillary Clinton by 62 electoral votes, but Clinton received almost 600,000 more popular votes than Trump.
Experts noted this was the most polarizing race to the White House, but it’s now one of the most surprising as well. During the final round of polls, only one scientific poll had Trump leading, according to the LA Times.
Trump’s surprising win had students on edge. Performance majors took to the quad around 3 a.m. to play improv games or sing songs to take their minds off of the results. By morning, the campus was covered in pro-Trump, anti-Hillary statements written in chalk. Social media was abuzz with people on both sides posting politically-charged, sometimes aggressive statuses. The campus was divided.
OCU is often known as a tight-knit community. Arguing with each other does nothing positive for that community. Instead, it creates a rift between people that can be hard to resolve.
“Our university environment cannot be a place for the marginalization of any group,” wrote President Henry in email sent to the campus on Monday.
During a time when the country is divided on many issues, the campus should come together and continue to embrace personal rights and individuality, as we have always done.
The New York Times’s exit polls reported that more than half of voters in our age group voted for Clinton, but more than half of voters our parents’ ages voted for Trump. If a student’s parents are more conservative, this means a potentially uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner when they go home for the break.
Remember that we’re all more alike than we are different. People have different viewpoints on social and economic policies, but everybody wants America to be great.
The United States will have a new president in January. If he’s not what you wanted, don’t give up and don’t lose hope. Always support what you believe in and continue fighting for what you think is right.
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