The day after the election held mixed feelings for everyone. Campus felt somber and we spent classes having emotional discussions about the future of our country. On the night of November 9, 2016, LMU’s Black Student Union held an emergency meeting. This meeting was one that was the most diverse and populated they have ever had, and the energy was like no other.
They started off with a presentation, explaining important statistics about the reasons and demographics of Trump voters. After some thoughts on their part, they opened up the discussion to the audience, where many shared their emotions towards the outcome of the election. The amount of support and love given to LMU students who explained how much they were in shock by the results was heartwarming. Muslims, undocumented students, women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, and everyone who President-elect Trump had targeted through his demeaning rhetoric spoke out about experiences. Emotions were high as even I found myself in tears after hearing some of the touching stories. Some shared empowering speeches, encouraging us to take part in student activism to shed light on the issue.
We ended off hand in hand promising to be united no matter what the outcome. As several students mentioned, unity is something that our whole country needs at a time like this, but one of the biggest steps we can take is to start at our very own LMU home. Black Student Union’s meeting provoked hope and activism in many who were scared about the future, and was a beautiful way to bring together our LMU community.
By: Anushka Tyagi