ephemera

Election Night 2008 in Oberlin

I’ve never seen the kind of release from Oberlin students that I saw on Election Night 2008. Even at Drag Ball, students retain some amount of reserve, some hint of awkwardness. Not that night. Some students got naked, some got drunk, some got their instruments, and about half the campus eventually made their way to the bandstand in Tappan Square, where an impromptu band played what must have been well over a hundred rounds of When the Saints Come Marching In.

The feeling of relief after eight years of George Bush, after the election of the first African-American president, was truly unbelievable. I can only hope that some day I’ll be a part of a celebration like that again.

(Sorry for the quality; this was taken on a truly lousy camera.)