Ohio University students woke up on Wednesday to the news that a new president had been chosen: businessman Donald Trump would be the 45th president of the United States. The race was called in the early hours that morning. Trump did not give his victory speech until about 3 a.m.
For Trump supporters, such as OU College Republicans President David Parkhill, it was an exciting result.
"I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled," Parkhill said. "It will be a nice culture change, and that's what I'm most excited about."
For others, it felt more like a nightmare. Students gathered on the steps of the County Courthouse, 1 S. Court St., on Wednesday afternoon to protest the election's result and to celebrate the wedding of a same-sex couple.
Autumn Johnson, a junior studying painting and drawing, said she could not stop thinking about it.
"I was like 'You know, I really can't focus on any of my work right now,' " she said. "I just need to go out and stand on the courthouse steps and be there."
Kelly Bondra, a junior studying commercial photography, also participated in the protest.
"I'm here to stand with my friends who are gay, who are trans, who are minorities, who are women and face hardship that Trump threatens towards them," she said.
The protesters sat on the steps for several hours and tried to keep warm on a cold November day by drinking coffee and sharing blankets. Bondra said the protesters had received both support and criticism from people passing by.
"We have been getting a lot of thumbs up from people driving by and also walking by, and we also have had a lot of people ... just kinda giving us dirty looks, but that's expected," Bondra said.
Trump won Ohio by more than 400,000 votes, or 52.1 percent to 43.5 percent. Clinton won handily in Athens County, 55.7 percent to 38.7 percent, but Athens was one of just seven counties that voted for her. There are a total of 88 counties in Ohio.
Perhaps no one on campus was more disappointed with the election results than Sam Miller, the president of the OU College Democrats. She said seeing the protesters made her optimistic about the future of the country.
"I’m seeing a lot of people posting on social media about how they are also very upset about the results and how they think that America is better than this, and I couldn’t agree more," she said.
Miller hoped the resentment many felt toward Trump would lead to action.
"I want people to understand that the grief they are feeling is valid because Donald Trump is a dangerous man," she said. "But that grief needs to turn into, like, ammunition to fuel fire and fuel change."
Come January, the GOP will control the White House and both the Senate and House in Congress. All the contested races on Athens ballots went to Republicans: Trump, Sen. Rob Portman, Rep. Steve Stivers, State Sen. Frank Hoagland and State Rep. Jay Edwards.
Parkhill said such an overwhelming majority of Republicans in Washington D.C. should lead to substantial legislation.
"We have a chance to put our morals into practice, we have control," he said. "We can start the economy, we can produce jobs, do things we ran on. If we fail, I’m going to be pretty disappointed, as will most Republicans and people who came to our side."
