With far more than 500 guests throughout the evening, USC’s community gathered around the election night coverage on Tuesday inside the Ronald Tutor Campus Center mirroring the anticipation felt across the nation.
Students on hand to experience the event echoed the youth vote indicating that apathy amongst younger voters is often over estimated.
As live coverage from CNN streamed live on the big screen TV, starting at 5pm, students, faculty and staff enjoyed the festivities of the evening presented by the USC Program Board in partnership with our center.
Four years ago, the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) spearheaded the event in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (ASCJ) east lobby. This year, after an overwhelming response from the live debate viewings held in the ASCJ lobby, it became clear the event needed to move to a larger venue.
Senior fellow Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, echoed the overwhelming response to the live viewings saying, “We did this four years ago in the Annenberg lobby, but because the turnout for our debate watches was so much larger this year, we realized we had to move our election night program outside.”
In addition to the election night viewing party, CCLP hosted the Political Student Assembly phone banking efforts in the Annenberg east lobby.
Students turned out to the event with an overwhelming response enjoying the festivities, which included a photo booth with cardboard cutouts of both party’s candidates and election night food vouchers courtesy of USC Hospitality services.
The Daily Trojan was on hand interviewing crowd attendees:
“It’s awesome that we have a campus that we can sit around and come together and watch,” said Alicia Dewell, a sophomore majoring in philosophy. “It was a great bonding experience.”
The election night viewing party was part of the on-going Road to the White House series examining politics, media, and policy this election season presented by the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. The event was made possible by our partnerships with the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, the Bedrosian Center, USC Program Board, and the USC Political Student Assembly.
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