Megan PellegrinoThe 2008 presidential election, after millions of dollars splurged on advertising and time spent preparing for debates, came to a close on Tuesday, Nov. 4, as millions of Americans, including Cabrini College students, cast their votes.
Just after 11 p.m., Sen. Barack Obama surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Soon after, at 11:18 p.m., Sen. John McCain conceded to Obama.
While some students traveled home to vote, others registered at Cabrini and voted in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, along with Ohio and Florida, became the three main states that the election depended upon. Obama won all three states, which gave him a major boost in electoral votes.
For months past, while the candidates were busy ensuring votes for themselves, Cabrini College was busy ensuring that its students got out and voted-no matter whom they decided to vote for.
The office of Student Engagement and Leadership (SEaL) created a campaign-Decision 2008-to encourage students that their votes count and their voices need to be heard.
Throughout the semester, SEaL had organized events around campus. One of the bigger events was Real World’s Brooke and Robin who came to campus to educate Cabrini students on the different issues they should consider before casting their vote.
For many college students, this is the first election they are able to vote in.
“We finally have the opportunity [to vote], so why not take it,” Lindsey Glynn, freshman environmental science major, said.
Polls all over the country were packed with people lining up outside the doors. Matthew Connelly, senior liberal arts major, decided to go to his Lansdale, Pa. home to vote. He and his mother walked around to their voting location at 7 a.m. where she has been voting for over 20 years. She said the line never went farther than the front door, but on Tuesday it stretched halfway down the street.
Throughout the day, the Cabrini shuttle was driving students to and from the polls in Wayne, Pa.; Glynn was one of the students who opted to take the shuttle.
“Everyone that wants to vote will get to the polls,” Brittany DiCicco, graduate assistant in the SEaL office and organizer of Election Day activities, said. The revised shuttle route was not the only effort SEaL made, it also made certain that students had the proper resources to register at Cabrini and mailed the registration forms out for them.
Joe Strain, sophomore marketing major, said, “I am voting because it is a privilege and opportunity.”
Students all over campus were sporting their Decision 2008 t-shirts, which SEaL gave to students who voted.
However, some students weren’t as enthusiastic about voting. “I think it’s better not to vote at all than to just vote for anyone,” Kelsie LaBauve, senior religious studies major, said. She continued to say that if she were a registered voter, she would have been more likely to educate herself on the issues.
Every student voter had a different reason for choosing a candidate.
Whether they voted based on their parents’ beliefs, their religious views, their attitudes on the war, healthcare or tax breaks, the most important thing is that they voted and made informed decisions, which is the reason why SEaL attempted to provide Cabrini students with a sufficient amount of information.
“I watched all of the debates and I kept up on everything; how could others not,” Sapphira Griffin, freshman psychology and criminology major, said. “We’re making history.”
