A look into Duke students’ election night plans

When you look back on this election in 20 years — reflecting on either a Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris or Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump victory — will you remember where you were when you heard the final result?

Although the presidential victor may not be announced Tuesday night, Duke students are solidifying their watch night plans, ranging from attending student organization watch parties to small get-togethers with their friends.

Whether your plans are settled or still in motion, take a look at how Duke students plan to spend their election night as they await which candidate will come out victorious.

“I think it's just a very unique experience being able to watch democracy and watch history unfold,” said senior Timothy Gunawan, regarding the election.

Some students are opting to attend POLIS: Center for Politics’ and Duke Votes’ non-partisan watch party in the Sanford School of Public Policy in the Rhodes Conference Room. The event begins at 7 p.m. and will feature food and games.

First-year Nathaniel George, program officer for the POLIS student committee executive board, emphasized the importance of promoting mature, civil discourse as results come in.

“I'm sure there will be celebrations. I'm sure there will be disagreements over the results of the election,” he said. “But, I think it's important, ultimately, to move forward as a country … to have moments of bipartisanship, where we reach across the divide.”

Though, for students looking to gather with students in support of a specific candidate, Duke’s political student organizations are also hosting their own watch-parties.

Duke Democrats will be hosting its event in Edens 1C from 8 p.m to 10 p.m., while Duke Republicans will be co-hosting with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Durham and Orange County Republicans at Bralie’s Sports Bar 2 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

As a public policy major, first-year Sophie Brynes said that she is “very into politics” and wants to watch the results roll in with others who are also “intense about politics.”

Though, other students — including Gunawan — plan on hosting a more casual gathering with their close friends.

Gunawan, co-president of the Visions of Freedom Living Learning Community, shared that he is planning an informal gathering for his LLC and some of his friends. He expressed a preference for a more relaxed space as opposed to club events where he is “with [his] friends, as opposed to with a bunch of strangers.”

Junior Alexandria Thomas echoed Gunwan’s sentiment, noting the benefits of watching the election with friends.

“Having inside jokes and things to say within a close-knit group can always be really fun,” she said.

Students also expressed preferences for which news outlet they will stream the results on. Television channels like CNN are hosting special programming for election night while websites like the New York Times create special graphics and modeling for projected results.

While Brynes plans to watch multiple channels, Gunawan expressed indifference about which network to follow.

“All of the networks should be relatively similar,” Gunawan said. “If you remember in 2020, even a news outlet as partisan as Fox News, which obviously has more Republican [and] Trump leading tendencies, [was] the first one to call Arizona for Biden.” 

Depending on the outcome of the election, students have prepared how they plan on responding — particularly if the results do not go the way they hope.

“[I’m] trying to hope for the best, hoping that the candidates that I voted for get elected,” Thomas said. “But I'm also preparing for the worst, and just like mentally and emotionally preparing myself.”

Brynes believes that realizing the election is not entirely in her control is the best mindset. 

“Whatever is going to happen, it's going to happen, and unfortunately, I can't control it, so I'm trying to just keep that in mind,” Brynes said. “Keep up with the news and wait until it happens.”


Dylan Halper

Dylan Halper is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.

Discussion

Share and discuss “A look into Duke students’ election night plans” on social media.