"The Era of Responsibility"

What a bang to begin the semester. As soon as students returned from a quiet month of Winter Break, attention quickly turned to President-Elect Barack Obama. The Vassar campus was ecstatic over today's Presidential Inauguration. I met my friend in the morning for a light breakfast at the Retreat, then headed to the Villard Room (a large multi-purpose room in the College Center). Several Vassar departments sponsored a large inaugural party, complete with a huge screen blasting CNN, speakers and of course, lots of free pizza. Everyone was there. I saw history professors, Buildings and Grounds Employees, students, administrative assistants and Security officers.

Unfortunately, I should have gotten there earlier. By the time my friend and I got to the door, Villard was already standing room only. People were crouched down in window sills and huddled on the floor to get a seat. Thinking fast, we ran over to Jewett—one of Vassar's recently renovated dorms, which sports a large screen TV in their lobby. We quickly scampered onto the floor in front of the TV just in time to watch history unfold. Obama's words were stirring:

"Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans....

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

The whole room burst out clapping and cheering to chants of 'Yes We Can' and 'O-BA-MA'—it was such a unifying moment. I thought back to earlier in the year, when I met my friends in that same Jewett parlor to watch all three presidential debates between Obama and John McCain, and then watched the election results live from the Miscellany News office. How far we've come. The energized Vassar campus was the ideal place to experience this unique and historic presidential election, from beginning to end.