Election insanity at Cornell: how the night played out in dorms

With the Republican nominee being Donald Trump, and as a Democrat, I had basically no choice but to vote for Hillary. After I gave her my vote, early polls began coming out that expected her to win in a landslide.

Then election night came.

A group of my friends a seven doors down from me gathered in their room and put on a live stream of CNN. They had the perfect living space to watch the election and they had set up chairs facing towards their 40 inch flatscreen TV. The mood of the room was cheerful, and a celebratory bottle of wine sat on the fridge.

“We’ll open up the bottle of wine when Clinton clinches her win,” one of the people who lived in the room said. Over the next half hour, about a dozen people piled into the 10 by 7 foot room, all preparing for a huge Clinton victory.

Across the hall from my room, two boys put a live stream of Fox News on in their room, and a small group of Republicans began to gather. They were a lot less optimistic about the election results, and of the six Republicans in the room, none were actually that focused on the television. Many were doing homework or having conversations about politics, and even when Trump took an early lead, they expected Hillary to come back and win in a blowout.

As Trump’s electoral votes increased while Clinton’s remained stagnant, the room of Democrats began to panic. The New York Times election predictor that gave Clinton an 84% chance of winning was down to 50%.

“This cannot be happening,” one of the Democrats said.

The mood in the room was one of the most surreal things ever. Within a half an hour, the group of Democrats in the room went from cheerful and celebratory to sad and shocked. No one had completely given up on Clinton yet, but the ambience of the room was quiet and depressing.

A girl three doors down from me who was known for her very progressive views went to her room and returned with a large glass of wine, ready to drink her sorrows away.

Curious to see the mood of the Republicans, I walked into their room just as Fox News announced that Trump had won Florida. They began screaming in celebration, running down the hallway yelling and pumping their fists. I stayed in the room, continuing to watch Fox, as they returned, joy on their faces. One of the female Republicans lied down on one of the two beds in the room, clutching a pillow while her fellow Republicans continued to cheer.

“He’s actually going to pull this out,” I said to her.

“It’s not over,” she replied. “I still think Hillary is going to win.”

I returned to the Democratic room, and after a few minutes in there, people began to realize that Trump was going to win Ohio. And then they realized he was going to win Pennsylvania. The room was in a silent shock as reality set in.

“It’s over,” another one of the Democrats said.

I went into my floor’s common room where many Clinton supporters were in the same state of disgust and sadness as everyone came to terms with the fact that Trump was our next President. A friend of mine ran up to me on the verge of tears and hugged me, unable to cope with what was happening.

I checked my phone and saw that it was 1:15 AM. Being the honorable college student I am, I decided to go to bed so I could get at least a decent night’s sleep before my 8 AM the next day. When I walked into my room, my roommate, a Republican who doesn’t like Trump, looked over to me while the Fox News stream of the election played on his computer.

“Called it,” he said.

I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, you did.” He actually had predicted this result months in advance, and to be honest, it was quite impressive.

Right before bed, I texted the same girl from earlier who was still in the Republicans room.

“You guys did it,” I sent.

“It’s not over yet,” she replied.

I fell asleep, but at around 3 AM, I was woken up by screams of happiness and “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang coming from across the hall.

And that’s when I knew Trump had really won the election.