While a few hundred Syracuse University students watched CNN’s coverage of the presidential election in the Schine Student Center on Tuesday night, about a dozen College Republicans isolated themselves in the right-hand corner of the dining center. There, they watched results coming in from Fox News on a separate television.

College Republicans President James Ward feverishly checked the results from his laptop as they came in. Ward, a native of Fairfield, Conn., grew up with a Republican family, despite hailing from a very Democratic area.

“I became more politically aware in high school,” Ward said. “It just so happened that my family had the same beliefs as me.”

He scoffed sarcastically when he heard the county had sided with President Barack Obama, rather than former Gov. Mitt Romney.

Zach Weiss, executive director of College Republicans, wore a pair of American flag cargo shorts to celebrate the occasion. Weiss said the group spent the majority of election season getting people to register to vote, while also assisting in Ann Marie Buerkle’s campaign for U.S. representative of New York’s 24th congressional district.

When asked if he was only interested in registering Republican voters, Weiss was taken aback.

“No,” he said. “We help everyone register to vote.”

Even though the organization helped the SU community register, it was clear on Tuesday night that the College Republicans were very focused on seeing Romney become the country’s 45th President. When results trickled in, conversation stopped and eyes were immediately glued to the screen.

When Obama was projected to win Michigan, despite only holding a six-point lead, Ward said the state was still a lot closer than he had expected.

When swing state Pennsylvania was officially declared to Obama, member Dimitri Skambas wasn’t so sure.

“Hmmm,” he said. “I think that’s a little early to call PA.”

Joseph Ghio, a member of College Republicans, acts as treasurer of SU’s Traditions Commission, which helped to plan the viewing for the SU community. His involvement sparked the group’s interest in attending.

At the beginning of the semester, Ghio, a sophomore finance and marketing major, was asked to plan an event for Homecoming Weekend and, given that the election was during that week, he decided to put together the gathering at Schine.

The College Republicans partnered with Phi Beta Sigma, Lambda Sigma Epsilon, Student Traditions and Student Association to help get a larger crowd. Many of the College Republicans members left the viewing around 9:15 p.m.

“I feel like it’s really great for the College Republicans to get their message out there on a primarily liberal campus,” Ghio said. “It just shows that we want to get things done.”

 

Published on November 7, 2012 at 4:12 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3