In the wake of Tuesday night’s presidential election, many students took to social media to share their reactions, both expressing them by posts and Tweets and creating a series of campus events.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton conceded to President-elect Donald Trump early Wednesday morning after Trump captured key battleground states including Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. With 100 percent of precincts reporting in Michigan, Trump leads by less than a percent, though its result does not impact the national election outcome because Trump has already garnered more than the required number of electoral votes to clinch the presidency.
One of the largest campus was a vigil which occurred Wednesday evening, drawing hundreds to the Diag. It followed a initial, much smaller impromptu vigil held on the Diag directly after election results were announced, during which students also chalked slogans of “You belong here” and “Co-exist.”
Another group on campus, Socialist Alternative Ann Arbor, also was slated to host a vigil Wednesday in direct opposition to Trump. According to the event page, the organizers will be campaigning to prevent a wall between Mexico and the United States that the president-elect has proposed, as well as for policy issues such as public funding for health care and higher education.
On campus and beyond, many Facebook users are blacking out their profile and cover photos to protest the election results. University of Michigan students are also encouraging one another to dress in black in opposition via another Facebook event.
That event, “Wear Black because Racism, Sexism and Bigotry Won,” describes the day after the election as “a day, not of solutions, but sadness.”
Despite the looming sense of negativity surrounding the University community on social media, some, like Business senior Hani Elhor, are hoping to remain optimistic about the path forward.
“Don’t let negativity win,” Elhor wrote in an email to the Daily. “We still need to have hope, why turn in now?”