\u2002told the crowd\u2002<\/a>that Harris would not address supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cYou will hear from her tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hours before projections began to roll in, Tiara Martin, 18, said she understood the excitement that Black Americans, especially, felt after Barack Obama was elected the first Black president of the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI heard Black people were so excited and emotional,\u201d said Martin, a freshman. \u201cThat\u2019s how I am now. The campus feels like a ball of energy that\u2019s ready to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harris had returned to campus multiple times, including as the commencement speaker in 2017. She also announced in 2019 that she was running for president at Howard, a place she has called \u201chome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But those occasions were nothing like Tuesday night as the general feelings of the festivities on campus morphed over several hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Howard University Gospel Choir performed \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing\u201d and \u201cOh, Happy Day\u201d for a worship element early in the night. There was a college homecoming feel with members of the Divine Nine, the network of Black fraternities and sororities, stepping and strolling to upbeat music. There was the university\u2019s Bison band thumping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
University President Wayne A.I. Frederick added a historical element in a short speech. \u201cYou\u2019re standing on sacred, hallowed ground that has been witness to history,\u201d he told the packed crowd full mostly of students. \u201cYou stand on grass sown by our ancestors, flanked by buildings whose bricks have witnessed ex-slaves become scholars. … For tonight, our Yard is open in unity for all people, all races, creeds, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there definitely was a party element to the occasion, with guests moving to the sounds of the DJ, performing line dances with pure joy. \u201cI feel all of this,\u201d said Yolanda Robinson, a 1992 Howard graduate who traveled from Philadelphia. \u201cThis is so us: coming together as a family to celebrate each other while we support our sister who has represented us all so well. It\u2019s joyous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the music and the partying stopped as the results began to come in, with Trump assuming a large lead by winning all the traditional Republican states, according to NBC News projections. Harris kept pace in that she did not lose any blue or Democratic states, according to the projections. But her path to history began to shrink as Trump\u2019s numbers piled up, particularly in swing states like North Carolina and Georgia, which NBC News projected he won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was then when the partying stopped and concern took over. Any update that had Trump leading inspired vigorous boos. A Harris lead resulted in loud screams, as one would hear at a sporting event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was that way much of the late night \u2014 the excitement and hope interrupted by the specter of a Trump win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Jabari Robinson, 20, a junior, said he was consumed by the moment, despite being concerned about what the final results would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just amazed,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cI\u2019m honored to be a student at Howard University at this time. We all talk about how amazing it is to see an alumna in this historical position. It shows you that anything is possible if you work hard. Kamala Harris is a powerful affirmation of that clich\u00e9. I feel all the energy and hope in the air. I am inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Renae Martin, a 1976 Howard graduate, said he had a revelatory moment as the results rolled in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you really think about it, Kamala Harris has already won,\u201d she said. \u201cLook at all this pomp and circumstance for a Black woman on the campus of a Black college. The whole world is watching. This doesn\u2019t happen every day. It never happens. That just hit me. She\u2019s already won.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harris certainly galvanized a community. \u201cThis is like homecoming but different because it\u2019s not just about fun,\u201d said Sandra Fields, a Howard graduate. \u201cThis feels like homecoming with a purpose. We\u2019re partying and laughing and hugging each other. But we\u2019re also praying for something that\u2019s bigger than all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 As midnight approached Tuesday night at Howard University, where a mass of Kamala Harris supporters gathered to await results of the presidential election, lingering anxiousness gave way to exhilaration. And then concern. It was that way all night on \u201cThe Yard\u201d at the historically Black college, which Harris graduated from in 1986. Moments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2302,31100,2799,1834,4946],"class_list":["post-34383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-harris","tag-howard-university","tag-presidential-election","tag-results","tag-supporters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34385,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34383\/revisions\/34385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}