When Montclarion editor Bobby Melok arrived to cover the Barack Obama inauguration event on January 20 at University Hall, he was overwhelmed at the size of the crowd. “This is one of the biggest turnouts I’ve seen for anything on campus,” he said. More than 800 students, faculty, staff and residents of surrounding communities attended the event. The overflow from the Conference Center had to be accommodated in additional lecture halls.

Emotion in the room ran high as the events in Washington D.C. unfolded. Several times during the ceremony and during Obama’s speech, the audience stood up and applauded. The atmosphere was one of celebration and excitement, and the event will likely be remembered by those who attended for a very long time.

Share in the moment—see and hear what some audience members had to say.