UWF students witness history

Believing that the best way for students to learn about history is to experience it first-hand, Patrick Moore, Public History Program director at the University of West Florida, jumped at the opportunity to lead 11 UWF students to watch the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. Braving frigid weather, road blocks, intense security and overwhelming crowds, Moore and his students watched history unfold as Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s 44th president, the first African-American to hold the office.

“Euphoria, tears, laughter – we were able to feel and watch it all,” said Moore. “As a historian I think it was a momentous time in history where Americans were intensely focused on what was happening. The energy of the crowd was infectious and it was a remarkable sight to witness.”

As soon as Bob Carriker, Public History Program director at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (ULL), reached out to Moore, a week prior to the Inauguration about the opportunity to brings students to the area, Moore and several UWF students jumped at the chance to witness history.

“As soon as I found out about the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., I was ready to go,” said Jonathan Creel, graduate student, who had never been to D.C. prior to the Inauguration. “There aren’t many times in your life when you know you can watch something go down in history, and I was on-board for whatever we had to do to be there for it.”

The UWF group left Pensacola the Saturday prior to the Inauguration, met up with Carriker and other students from ULL and arrived in Baltimore on Sunday evening. Since they didn’t have tickets for the event, they made sure to buy Metro tickets and did a dry run of the route they planned to take. Waking up at 2 a.m. and armed with several layers of clothes, the group was ready to face whatever obstacle they had to overcome to get to the National Mall.

“The energy in the city was amazing,” said Seth Rosin, graduate student. “We got the perfect spot on the mall, we were freezing for hours and our bones hurt, but it didn’t matter because we were there.”

Arriving to the National Mall at 5 a.m. students described the scene as “a happy madness” and “something out of a movie.” The group was able to secure a spot 50 feet from where the last of the ticket holders were standing.

“I’ve always been proud to be an American,” added Rosin. “I was truly honored to be there. It was amazing the patriotism that was in the air and just how excited everyone was to watch the Inauguration. Being in that moment is something I will never forget.”

After hunkering down and trying to stay warm for several hours, including dancing to the footage of the Inauguration concert, the group was able to watch and hear the president take his oath of office and address the crowd.

“I’m a mother of two bi-racial children and for me it was amazing to see the diversity of the crowd,” said Barbara Stefani, senior majoring in History. “In my opinion, it’s such a great step in the right direction and it truly made me feel that I can now look at my children and tell them they can do whatever they want to do.”

For more information, contact Moore at (850) 474-2680 or e-mail pmoore@uwf.edu. To find out more about the UWF Public History Program, visit uwf.edu/history.

Written by Megan Tyson, University Marketing Communications