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College of Education News
Students and Faculty relate personal impact of a presidential event
February 2, 2009
From shoulder-to-shoulder subway rides to haunting images of our nation's past, College of Education students and faculty recount their tales as members of a million-member audience.
Dr. Lorenzo Baber
Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Organization and Leadership
On the eve of the presidential inauguration, Lorenzo Baber ventured by the Washington mall at 3 a.m. and witnessed people camping out despite the frigid air. Baber returned to the scene six hours later, pocket warmers in hand, and found himself standing next to a couple from Ireland who had flown in just for the experience. Baber's own trip to and from the nation's capitol lasted only 76 hours - 26 of which were on the road. "But it was worth every second," he said.
Dr. William Cope
Research Professor
Department of Educational Policy Studies
Although his voice did not count in the electoral process, Bill Cope made a statement about U.S. politics by attending the presidential inauguration. The Australian citizen said he joined the masses in Washington, D.C. to experience a gala unlike any other because "no country in the world does political transitions like this."
Sharee Onyezia
Undergraduate student
History Secondary Education
School commitments barred Sharee Onyezia from attending Barack Obama's victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park. But that absence only reinforced her resolute to attend his inauguration, regardless of the price. This time around, "I was prepared to make sacrifices to witness history," Onyezia said.
Dawn Thomas
Ph.D. candidate
Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM)
On the Thursday before Barack Obama's inauguration, Dawn Thomas caught a flight out of Indianapolis. Although the event was days away, Thomas said the Hoosier airport was abuzz with talk about the inauguration, Obama, and a sense of hope permeating the country. When she arrived in D.C. even the air about the city felt different from her previous visits, Thomas said. "It was amazing."
Dr. Mary Kalantzis
Dean
College of Education
After a month of travels through Australia, Mauritius, India and England, Mary Kalantzis' journey culminated in Washington, D.C. Despite her changing coordinates on the globe, Kalantzis said one topic remained the same: "The inauguration was all people would talk about. It was as if it were their inauguration, too."
Dr. Brad Kose
Assistant Professor
Educational Organization & Leadership
A University of Wisconsin alumni friend of Brad Kose's tossed his hat into the random lottery of inauguration tickets up for grabs in Minnesota. Two weeks prior to the event, Kose's friend called to share his good luck and good will, offering Kose the extra ticket. Kose promptly booked his flight to D.C. and on inauguration day found his way to the reflection pool-about two football fields from the ceremony's platform. "We were one of the quarter million who had silver tickets," Kose marveled. "We were in a sea of people. I looked back and realized there were at least a million people behind me-I can't think of an experience that compares to the size of that crowd. The Washington Monument even looked small."
Dr. Jim Halle
Professor
Department of Special Education
Although he did not attend the inauguration, Jim Halle experienced the festivities through phone calls from two of his children, Michael, 24, and Caitlin, 21. Michael had been working for the Obama campaign since June 2007, and Caitlin took this past fall semester off from the University of Iowa to assist in campaign efforts. Their phone calls brought the event close to home.
"My daughter got to the inauguration at 8 or 8:30 that morning," Halle said. "She came in on the metro because she was staying with a friend in Virginia. She said the ride normally takes 15 minutes, but that morning it took over 2 hours."
What struck her most was the unity of the diverse attendees, "Everyone in the crowd was excited," Caitlin said. "They were there for one reason, the same reason."