FLORENCE — Scattered applause echoed at the Grille at Francis Marion University on Tuesday as President Barack Obama took the podium for his inaugural speech.
Students, faculty and staff members gathered at the campus eatery to watch history being made on the four televisions at that location.
Rick Almeida, a political science professor at the university, said the inauguration is doubly important when considering the history and demographics of the Pee Dee.
“I think that the first Democratic president in eight years and the first African-American president has to resonate strongly in this area,” he said.
Almeida said he doesn’t think there was much that could have helped or hindered Obama’s ascension to the Oval Office.
“Given the climate and the competition, he was primed to be (president) ... There was a lot of dissatisfaction in the country. You could argue that there was a lack of compelling Republican candidates who could get beyond President (George W.) Bush’s legacy,” he said. “I think it was going to be a tough year for the Republican party, regardless.”
Almeida said around October, he had a moment when it hit him that a black man would likely be the next president of the United States.
“It is pretty stunning,” he said. “I definitely had a moment where I thought, wow.”
Otto Wingate, a junior at FMU, watched the inauguration at the Grille. He said he expects great things from the first black president.
“I think he’s going to make great changes to the economy,” he said. “(I think he’ll) make things better off for everybody, not just cater to one class or one group of people.”
John Floyd, a transfer student to the university, said regardless of who a person voted for, Obama is the president and he plans to get behind him.
“If he can help our economy, we need to support him,” he said.
Across campus in the John K. Cauthen Educational Media Center, Dr. Lynn Hanson, English professor and avid Obama supporter, excused her students from class and invited them instead to join her in watching the historic event.
“Nobody can afford to miss this day,” she said. “This is one of the most important days for every citizen of our nation, whatever their political persuasion.”
Hanson said the day is even more important because it signals a changing of the way people look at others in this country.
“This means we can move from one president to the next peacefully,” she said. “And it means we can be inclusive for all factions of Americans. We all stand for one another today.”
One of the students in Hanson’s class, Adrienne Rizer, a senior at the university, said although she considers herself a Republican, she thinks Obama represents a change to the old way of doing politics.
“I think this is a very important change in America and I wish him well,” she said.
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