WASHINGTON — It was 4:47 a.m. when the doors of the Metro flew open. Five college students rushed onto the train. The car was empty and their laughs filled the air.

They were proudly donning “Make America Great Again” hats and were full of energy for the event they spent hours, in some ways, working to create.

“We knocked on almost 3,000 doors every weekend, 4,000 phone calls on Election Day, and it’s all paid off,” said Eric Magvas, a campus leader at Cleveland State University that organized fellow students in support of Donald Trump.

College students from across the nation descended on Washington Friday, some to show support for the new president and others to protest his rise to power. For supporters, Inauguration Day provided a haven to boast their support for Trump, something they felt they couldn’t do daily at school.

The CSU students said it was sometimes awkward and hard to publicly support Trump at a liberal university in a historically blue city.

Ian Witmer, a freshman at Georgetown University, stood at the front of the non-ticketed area of the National Mall, dressed from head to toe in Trump-inspired gear. His hoodie said “Trump Wins” and his shirt said he was a “proud member of the basket of deplorables.”

“I don’t wear this normally. I just don’t want to get into any arguments,” Witmer said. “… I definitely wouldn’t wear this around Georgetown.”

Samantha Racan, a freshman at George Washington University, echoed Witmer’s concerns about being outspoken about supporting Trump. Racan attended the inauguration with her friend and classmate Olivia Dupree, who voted for Hillary Clinton. Dupree said she wanted to attend the event no matter who won, because she wanted to witness history. She saw it as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

A short distance from the two bipartisan friends, a small exchange between protesters and Trump supporters began. Charlotte Oestrich, a junior writing and rhetorical studies and a political science major at Syracuse University, said she and seven other girls traveled to the Capitol to protest.

They marched in a loosely organized pro-marijuana legalization march and heard Trump’s inaugural address from the National Mall.

She said that for the most part, Trump supporters left them alone and mostly muttered things under their breath as they walked by. Their night ended on a more hectic note, however, when they were caught in a massive demonstration at Franklin Square where a limousine was set ablaze by protesters.

“We are just standing there, and we wanted to stay and watch this giant fire because it was fascinating, but we were like ‘Oh sh*t,’ we have to get out of here,” Oestrich said.

Published on January 20, 2017 at 10:22 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu