Howard University hosted a watch party on election night to show support for Kamala Harris, who attended the university as an undergraduate student.
People stood shoulder to shoulder in the crowd, indicating how much the election really meant to them.
Thousands of people gathered at The Yard at Howard University to show support for causes they care about. The energy was electric and buzzing with excitement. Every time Kamala Harris or the Democratic Party scored a win, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Harris supporters knew it would be a tight race, but they remained hopeful for a historic win.
“I feel like she’ll pull through. I really feel like she’ll pull through,” Dupe Bakare said. Bakare is a Washington, D.C. native.
Optimism filled the air with a sense of building tension as the race unfolded.
“The people here are very excited, very hopeful, there’s a lot of joy. I’ve been looking at the data all night, so I’m feeling a little less joy,” Trey Madison, from Nashville, Tennessee, said.
Madison had his laptop out, closely tracking election results minute by minute.
“I’m a numbers guy, so I’ve been looking at some numbers out of Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and she is underperforming Biden’s numbers from four years ago by about three to five points,” Madison said.
People felt the pressure as Harris and Trump each claimed victories.
“Regardless of what the result is, this is history, it is life changing,” Madison said.
Attendees expressed hope that voters would keep standing for what they believe in, no matter the result of the election.
“I just hope, like, people still have hope and they continue, you know, fighting for their struggle,” Vikash Rivers, international student at Howard University, said.
As it got closer to midnight, tensions mounted and everyone waited to see the final results.