Eighteen University of Western Ontario students are travelling to Washington D.C. Saturday to be a part of history.
Members of the Organization for Political Science Students club are heading to Washington D.C. Jan. 17-21 to witness the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
Members of the Organization for Political Science Students (OPSS) club will attend the U.S. presidential inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20. The group will start its journey to the heart of American politics on Jan. 17, in hopes of packing in a few sights before the ceremony, then returning on Jan. 21.
For third-year political science student Jeff Rutledge, the trip means an opportunity to see his years of studying comparative politics in action.
“I’m really excited to be there,” he says.
Although it is a historic event to witness the installation of America’s first black president, Rutledge says the trip would have been planned regardless of the election outcome.
“In the end, whether it had been (John) McCain or whether it was Obama, I think that the (United) States recognized something was going to be different. But for me it’s a great chance to be able to show … why it is so good to be in political science,” he says.
“We are going to be studying this for years to come.”
Rutledge, OPSS vice president of finance, was among many club members who visited Washington last year. With one trip under its belt, the club decided to make it an annual event.
Witnessing an inauguration seemed like icing on the cake.
Having participated in one of the presidential campaigns, club president Danielle Da Silva, a fourth-year Science student, has a vested interest in the trip.
“I have watched the campaign progress since its inception in 2007 and I have attended various rallies for different candidates,” she says, adding she interned in Boston and Washington, D.C. last year.
“It has been truly remarkable to watch Obama develop as a candidate and as a worldwide source of inspiration and hope in a time where such a source is necessary,” she says. “The inauguration itself is but a symbolic moment that reinvents the meaning of making the ‘impossible’ possible.”
Although the club is nonpartisan, Changwook Lee, second-year Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies student, says the inauguration adds significance to the trip.
“A change in presidents and reigning political parties are likely to cause huge changes in a country’s policies, and as students interested in political science, we feel that this would be a great opportunity to be present at a moment that would signify a potentially huge shift in politics,” says Lee.
Similarly, second-year political science student Teresa Arnone is excited to join the millions of people expected to witness first-hand a significant political moment.
In spite of skyrocketing hotel prices in Washington, D.C. for the dates surrounding the inauguration, the club was able to provide the trip to students for $200 a person.
The group will also be visiting notable sites such as the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery, the National Mall, Smithsonian Museums and the National Archives. They have also made appointments to speak with officials at the Heritage Foundation, the Canadian Embassy and the Pentagon.
However, those wanting to weigh in on the new U.S. president or hear what local academics have to say are invited to attend the Morrison Lecture on Jan. 22, featuring Gil Troy of McGill University. The topic of the annual American Studies lecture is “Welcome to the Age of Obama.”
The lecture will be held at 5 p.m. in the Spencer Engineering Building, Room 1200.