Brooklyn College Students Watch 2008 Election from Front-Row Seats

On November 4, Brooklyn College students witnessed the historic 2008 presidential election in a monumental fashion. Not only did a substantial number of them vote for the first time, but many also ably represented the College at two public events during the election night watch.

More than 150 students from various clubs and student government bodies crowded the lower level of the Brooklyn College Student Center to participate in the "Election Watch" program sponsored by the Graduate Student Organization. At around 9:30 p.m., WABC-TV New York sent field reporter Joe Torres to interview some of the students to get their reactions as results started to roll in. Although the segment was not shown live, it was later broadcast in the election night watch cycle, according to Torres.

Scores more of Brooklyn College students responded to an invitation from CNN to watch the election returns at its Election Center on Times Square. A crowded busload of students majoring in different fields joined hundreds of students from other New York City colleges in packing the bleachers set up for what the press had billed as "the most momentous election of the century."

"Being among so many enthusiastic New Yorkers was a mesmerizing experience," said Shaheen Butt, who coordinated the BC contingent that attended the CNN event. A Pakistani native who migrated to the United States with her parents at age one, Butt is a senior graduating in public administration.

When CNN called the election for President-elect Barack Obama, the students joined the cheers of Democratic supporters as a big celebration ensued.

"It was a magnificent election to be part of," said senior Dane Peters, a political science and Africana studies major from Trinidad and Tobago who came to the United States a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Now a U.S. citizen, Peters volunteered to register voters and voted for the first time this year.

"Barack Obama’s victory makes up tenfold for all the disappointments in the 2004 election."

November 4 will no doubt go down as one of the more memorable nights in the country’s history. And BC students were glad to bask in the public eye.