UNK students attend inauguration |
| Posted by Administrator on Jan 28 2009 at 4:23 PM |
Photo courtesy of Gibran Mancus
With over one million spectators present to watch the presidential inauguration, the event was standing room only. Here, a warmly dressed crowd awaits the arrival of the newly elected president.
By Josh Moody
Antelope Staff
On Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2009, over 1 million people crowded into Washington D.C. and descended upon the National Mall for a chance to observe the 56th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony and to watch the 44th president take office. UNK students could be found among these huddled masses, as several braved the long lines, cold temperatures, congested traffic and dense crowds in order to bear witness to this historic occasion.
One of those witnesses was Gibran Mancus of Cumberland, Md., a third level nursing student at UNMC. Mancus traveled to the inauguration with three other UNK and UNMC students; Anne Cummings of Kearney, a third level nursing student at UNMC, Burty Macwan of Ahmedabad, India, a fifth level nursing student at UNMC and Happy Macwan, a senior communications major from Ahmedabad, India.
Mancus described the journey as "nonstop travel," explaining that it had been difficult to find transportation throughout Washington D.C. during the week of the inauguration. Transportation was about as difficult to find as sleep was; Mancus and his fellow UNK and UNMC students stayed up for 30 hours on the day of the inauguration.
"At 2 a.m. there was already a line for our gate," Mancus said. "At 8 a.m. we were allowed inside."
Mancus maintained high spirits in spite of the cold. "It was cold for the people from San Diego, not for people from Nebraska," Mancus said. "It was a beautiful experience. People were inspired. There was a strong sense of community."
During the fall semester, Mancus could often be found in the student union seated behind a table piled high with Barack Obama campaign literature. Mancus made an effort to pass Obama information along to anyone willing to listen, and now that the election is over and politics no longer dominate the national news, it seems that it would be time to take things easy, but Mancus has other ideas.
"I've been really focused lately on taking the energy from the campaign and using that to make the world a better place, to make Kearney a better place," Mancus said.
