An atmosphere mixed with feelings of anger, frustration and sadness filled the space Wednesday night in front of Hendricks Chapel as a few hundred people gathered for a candlelight vigil following the Election Day results. Stretching from the chapel’s steps to the grass on the Quad, tears filled the eyes of some as they joined together in song and listened to a series of speakers.

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected president, the group of mostly Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students came together for the vigil, officially called “Syracuse University Stands Against Hate.” It was held for members of the Syracuse community to stand united against hatred, sexism, racism, homophobia and more.

The speakers — a mix of students from SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry — expressed their frustration with the election’s results, with some saying they felt scared and others telling stories of not wanting to leave their homes the day after the election. It reflected a trend on Wednesday of SU community members across campus reacting in awe of the election’s surprising outcome.

Emily Vargas, an SU senior studying sport and human dynamics, said during Wednesday evening’s vigil that she woke up in the morning not wanting to leave bed. She was heartbroken, she said, adding that never in her life had she felt the oppression she felt Wednesday as a Hispanic.

“Today I really came to terms with who I am, and it hurt me,” she said, holding back tears. “I’ve been crying all day, and … I’ve never really felt this until today.”

Moriah Ratner | Staff Photographer

Marcus Koesterer, a freshman at SUNY-ESF, said he felt scared Wednesday as a member of the LGBTQ community. He said he was nervous about the possible consequences of Trump’s presidency, but that community support, like the vigil, gave him hope.

He then led the vigil-goers into a singing of Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me.” Earlier in the vigil, attendees joined together to sing The Beatles’ “Let it Be” and Main Squeeze, SU’s all-female a capella group, sang Eryn Allen Kane’s “Have Mercy.”

Other speakers expressed their support for members of the LGBTQ community, people of color, Muslims and more, with several students calling on each other to band together and stand up to Trump and his supporters, eliciting roars from the crowd.

During his presidential campaign, Trump often made controversial statements about minority communities, including when he characterized Mexican immigrants as rapists and called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

About 300 people came to the vigil, which began at 8:30 p.m., but the crowd had shrunk to less than half of that by about 9:30 p.m.

Earlier Wednesday, other members of the SU community said they were particularly worried about the uncertainty that permeated the country and the unpredictability of Trump’s presidency.

Matthew Galeota, a junior economics major who voted for Clinton, said he did not expect Trump to win.

“I think it’s just that a majority of people really support his views and I think there’s a lot of divide and hate in America,” Galeota said. “… There’s a silent majority and a lot of people didn’t say they support him but a lot really did.”

Kamey Gomez, a freshman communications and rhetorical studies major, was disappointed with the U.S. and its political system, saying that Trump “magnifies and amplifies” hatred in the country. She added that, as a Latina woman, she can’t help but to feel scared and sad after Trump’s election.

Andrada Georgescu, a freshman finance major, recalled she saw a few people crying in her residence hall as the results were coming in, adding that she was shocked and upset with result and pointed out many had voted for Trump for change.

“People are sick of multiple Bushes and multiple Clintons,” Georgescu said. “… Trump represents change and represents someone who has never had any experience with politics before so he doesn’t carry that corruption with him.”

Lillian Hines, a third-year law student in SU’s College of Law, did not know the result until she saw CNN after she woke up at 5 a.m. Wednesday. She said she does not know what to think of the result but remains hopeful of the situation. She added scandals related to Clinton hurt her campaign.

Clinton has been under scrutiny for her use of private email servers and accusations regarding the Clinton Foundation. FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress in late October — less than two weeks before Election Day — that the agency was relaunching its investigation into Clinton’s email practice. A previous investigation concluded in July, which recommended to not press charges against Clinton. With two days before Nov. 8, the director said the FBI would not change the conclusion from the summer.

Nesibe Kutahyalioglu, a graduate student from Turkey studying child and family studies, said she does not know what is going to happen in the future because Trump has spoken out against Muslims and immigrants during his campaign.

“I am both a Muslim and an immigrant here and I have some concerns and some worries but I don’t know what we can do because it’s Americans’ choice and, you know, we are just guests here,” Kutahyalioglu said.

Nuri Aujla, a senior political science major, had a mixed reaction regarding the result. She said her father, who is a doctor, voted for Trump because he supports cutting taxes and getting rid of the Affordable Care Act.

On the other hand, Aujla said even though she is not a fan of Clinton, she does not trust Trump as president because of “the amount of uneducated people that he rallied up” whom she described as racists who felt empowered by Trump.

On the campaign trail, the president-elect vowed to enhance national security by building a wall on the U.S.’ southern border; restrict the entry of people from countries associated with violence and terrorism; repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health care law; nominate Supreme Court judges who strongly uphold the second amendment and pro-life values; and create jobs by dramatically cutting taxes.

William Gilman, a junior international relations major who voted for Trump through a New Hampshire absentee ballot, pointed out that Trump had enough passion to make people excited and vote for him.

“I am happy (with the result),” Gilman said. “It’s a great day.”

As for whether Republicans can unite under Trump, Gilman said he felt the party was divided early in the campaign but not so much after the election, since Republican lawmakers who were reluctant to support Trump eventually came out to support.

A group of about 20 SU students who carried signs saying “Free Hugs” and chanted “Love is free” or “All you need is love” marched from the Quad to the University Place promenade Wednesday afternoon in spite of the chilling weather.

John Cleland, a sophomore acting major and one of organizers of the event, said he was scared of the result and thinks the country is at stake so he wanted to take some action. He created a Facebook group around 4 a.m. on Wednesday calling for his friends to participate in the event and share it with their friends.

“We’re out here today to spread love and show people that even if you feel abandoned by our country, if you feel that people don’t love and support you for who you are, for who you love, for what you love, there are still people out there who do that,” Cleland said.

Published on November 10, 2016 at 2:46 am

Contact Satoshi: ssugiyam@syr.edu | @SatoshiJournal