The day of Trump’s inauguration was met with a lot of mixed feelings across the country. In the day following there were Women’s Marches in several cities to show solidarity for women’s issues and protest Trump’s rhetoric, while other Americans feel hopeful and relieved about his election.
These mixed reviews are also represented in the opinions of the students at A&M. While some students are excited to see Trump in the presidency, there are also many who have serious worries and some who are willing to protest what they believe Trump stands for.
IN PROTEST
“I didn’t vote for Trump because he’s a sexist,” said Tessa Emshoff, horticulture sophomore. “I see the women marching right now and I think it’s great, someone needs to say something about it. I think it’s terrible he became president. I’m scared of what he’s going to do. He’s a male who has the authority to help us and progress us and for him to say that stuff makes men think that’s okay.”
“I was very disappointed with the American people and as you know a majority of the people did not vote for Trump so I was very dissatisfied with the system that is in place right now, the electoral college,” said Savva Babika, engineering freshman. “I’m from Moscow, Russia so being an immigrant myself, I was really enraged at his stance on alienating pretty significant demographics of the U.S. I personally cannot support someone who has made those comments about women, who has mocked disabled people, who’s been in a couple dozen sexual assault scandals.”
IN SUPPORT
On the other hand, students like Katelynn McDonald, education junior, and Abby Orsini, sports management senior, were happy to see Trump win the election and watched the inauguration with pride in their hearts and excitement for how he will “make America great again.”
“He keeps saying ‘We the People.’ It’s all about ‘We,’” McDonald said. “His speech talked about giving the power back to us and away from Washington and power back to the states and local government. We’re a failing business so it makes sense to put someone in who’s a successful businessman.”
“It takes a lot for a person to come out of such comfortableness and having all this money and not really having any controversial things towards him,” Orsini said. “I mean I am worried because he doesn’t have any political background — that’s probably the only thing. But he’s a businessman and has millions of dollars so obviously he’s done something good with his money and he works really hard, and I’m just happy that I finally have a president who’s going to tell me how it is and not sugarcoat it.”
IN DISBELIEF
A trend among students was the feeling of surprise that Trump won the election. Carolina Zamora, history freshman said she was initially in disbelief at the fact that so many people voted for him because the polls and the opinions surrounding her showed differently.
“I was in shock at first; I just couldn’t believe he won,” Zamora said. “I’m Hispanic and I grew up in a conservative home and the way he thinks just doesn’t match what I grew up seeing. I don’t support him and my family doesn’t either so you have the general feeling that people see him like you see him but it turns out he won so it’s really not like that.”
“I couldn’t believe that many people voted for him over Hillary because I feel like some of the stuff he said was so out there and it was outrageous,” said engineering freshman Daremas Bell. “A lot of people weren’t [at the Inauguration] so I’m trying to see how he got so many votes but not a lot of people were there to support him if they voted for him. That was confusing to me.”
“I was surprised because I spend a lot of time at A&M and a lot of students were not really in favor of Trump so I thought that the election would resemble that but even though it looked that way in school I have to remember that it’s not the same outside of A&M,” said Linda Bustaman, biological engineering sophomore.
“I was kind of surprised because it seemed Hillary would win,” said English freshman Maryn Corkran. “He certainly would not have been my first choice but I think looking at the alternative, it was the lesser of two evils. I’m pretty neutral — I wasn’t a huge supporter but I wasn’t about to go out and protest.”
IN UNCERTAINTY
While there are some students who feel passionately one way or the other about Trump as president and have specific expectations for the Trump administration, many students are fairly neutral as they don’t know what to expect for Trump’s term based on a feeling of unpredictability during his campaign. Philip Cho, graduate student pursuing a masters in philosophy, said there is a feeling of fear when things are uncertain, but he also feels intrigued to see how it will turn out.
“After those initial moments of confusion and disbelief I just came to accept what happened and the outcome,” Cho said. “Like many people I have no clue how he’s going to turn out because he hasn’t really set out his clear agenda. We’ve never had anyone remotely like Trump before in history so it will be educational for American society however it turns out. Since he is so unpredictable and so different from conventional politicians, it’s hard to say that he’s going to do as he seemed to be doing.”
“I’m really unsure as what to see during his presidency because I’m not sure if we’re going to see the same ‘candidate Trump’ he ran during primaries or general election or maybe it could be someone completely different,” said Harland Ashby, mechanical engineering sophomore.
“I think I’m more uncertain to see what will happen,” applied math freshman, Jaci Cooper, said. “I think any politician says things to get elected and that’s how our system works. He definitely changes his mind a lot but I think as his administration proceeds we will see what he really believes.”
IN HOPE
Even though some students either didn’t support him as president or weren’t a huge fan of him as their first choice, they believe it’s best to go into this term with positivity and give him a chance to do his best. Sandra Holder, political science senior said she has some personal concerns about what Trump’s administration will do but she thinks it’s important to be optimistic about the future.
“I’m just worried about women’s health at the moment and I’m just worried that I won’t have healthcare- whether I lose it or not when I turn twenty-six,” Holder said. “But I feel like with what’s going on and the way that Congress is deliberating everything, we should just give it a chance and see what happens. To automatically stop and just be negative from the start is not the way.”
“Even if I don’t support his agenda, it’s not the end of the world,” said biology junior Abby Song. “I was concerned about his nominations and whether they’re qualified but he just became president yesterday so I think we need to give him a chance. It’s too early to judge when he hasn’t worked at it yet.”
“Would he have been my first option? No, but I also don’t think he’ll be as bad as everyone puts him out to be,” said Mason Sheffield, engineering freshman. “I think a lot of politicians get really extreme during election time because they’re trying to win over votes and do whatever it takes to win. But at the same time I think he’ll do a fine job being president. He has advisors, he’s not making all the decisions.”
“It kinda does worry me what he is going to do as president because he’s seen in a negative light but I’m glad he’s there because he has a business background and knows how to run a business which is kind of like being a president,” said Analisa Oriedo-Gomez, engineering freshman. “It might not be as bad as everyone is anticipating.”
“I feel like if you’re going into this negative it’s like wanting your own ship to sink,” said psychology freshman Shelby May. “I’m a little nervous but he’s our new president so I want him to succeed.”