In the immediate aftermath of Kamala Harris’ loss of the 2024 election, I, like many people, had unfortunate flashbacks to 2016. Flashbacks of waking up the day after Election Day and being informed by my mom that Hillary Clinton, the first woman to win a major party’s nomination for president, had lost. That our next president would be Donald Trump, who was once considered a political laughing stock and has since become a very real political nightmare. This time around, I woke up at 6 a.m., with just about four hours of sleep, to see that once again, Donald Trump would be our next president. In that moment of disappointment, I imagined this is some fraction of what it felt like to be here, at Wellesley, in 2016, watching the college’s greatest aspiration slowly fall apart. This line of thinking led to Sharvari Johari’s article in 2016 which outlined the events of the 2016 watch parties as they bore witness to Clinton’s devastating loss. In 2024, I attended three watch parties hosted by Wellesley Dems, CPE (Committee for Political Engagement) and AGORA. Thus, I feel somewhat responsible for retelling the events to the best of my memory and finding some connection to Wellesley students of the past.
8 p.m. at the KSC/Pendleton East Atrium
Much like in 2016, I began my election night in the Keohane Sports Center (KSC). I had finished watching Wellesley Field Hockey beat Salve Regina 4-1 when I wandered over to catch the tail end of Wellesley Volleyball’s 3 straight set win over WPI. Unlike in 2016, the KSC was not done up in Election Night decoration, and only about 100 people were gathered in the field house. As the game finished up, my friends and I made our way to our first watch party of the evening hosted by CPE in the Pendleton East Atrium. Despite the event having only just begun, the Atrium was packed and the energy was high. The food ran out quickly as people snatched seats to see the first polls close. Much like in 2016, the room was still filled with enthusiasm and hope of what could be.
9:30 p.m. Tower Great Hall
After spending an hour and a half watching with CPE, I made the trek to my second stop of the night in Wellesley Great Hall to watch with Wellesley Dems. It was by this time that the dread had started to built. Many nervously watched more and more polls come in and watched as the NYT needle ticked further and further right. As in 2016, this is when excitement was replaced with anxiety. People still believed she would win, but it was now said with a tinge of doubt.
11 p.m. Claf Basement
By the time I had made it to the final watch party of the night with AGORA society, many I knew had already turned in for the night. Unlike in 2016, when people still anxiously awaited every poll result, the result of each swing state created a fresh wave of disappointment followed by belief that the next one would be different. The Wellesley students of today had seen this film before. All of the swing states were already leaning red by this point in the night. Most of us that were still awake knew deep down what the result would be, even if we hadn’t admitted it to ourselves yet.
2016, 2:29 a.m. EST, the Associated Press calls Wisconsin and the Election for Donald Trump
2024, 4:34 a.m. EST Trump wins Wisconsin and the Presidential Election
Even if not as heartbreaking as 2016, watching the 2024 presidential election was difficult for many. This being said, I am glad to walk away from this night with a feeling of solidarity with my other Wellesley students. It is also inspiring to see that Wellesley students will still show up for each other and have hope for our country even if we have been burned before.
Contact the editor(s) responsible for this story: Caitlin Donovan
