On November 6, students entered Parker’s halls feeling a mix of emotions, with Principal Dan Frank holding open the door to welcome students into the building. At that point, Former President Donald Trump had a staggering lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, leaving a variation of hopefulness and disparity lingering in the building. By the end of the day, Harris had made her concession speech, solidifying Trump’s position as the next president of the United States.
The results of the recent election were disheartening for some and provided a sense of optimism for others. Harris lost the popular vote, the electoral college, and all seven swing states in this year’s election. The polls have been compared to the ones of Hillary Clinton’s results in 2016. Although Clinton won the popular vote that election cycle, she also lost all seven swing states.
An anonymous sophomore who said they supported Harris in this election stated, “The results of this election left me in a state of sadness and anger. I think that Harris winning this election was very important for my future and the ones of those around me. I think that Harris’s stance and ideas on reproductive rights, education, and the climate crisis were all crucial for the country going forward.” They have a sense that history is repeating itself and that makes them worried. “Now that the election results are in, I’m kind of scared for the next four years, and what the country is going to look like now that Trump is back in office. I’m scared for what he will do to reproductive rights, access to healthcare, and how he plans on prioritizing the drilling of oil instead of the health of the environment,” they said.
Another Harris supporter is concerned about the country going forward. “I was disappointed by the results of the election. Not only by the presidential race, but the elections for the Senate, the House, etc. I think the results represent what the majority of our country values. I think it’s interesting to look at the different voting demographics as well, examining which demographic leaned toward which candidate.The results will impact the nation going forward by furthering Trump’s agenda,” they said. They are concerned about the balance of power in Washington. “Almost the entire government has turned red, meaning that Trump is way more likely to introduce what he thinks is right for the country with less checks & balances,” they said.
Although many voiced their support for the Democratic party, there are many members of the Upper School who supported Trump this election. One student who supports Trump felt alone during the election season. “I felt like an outsider whose views were not only unappreciated but aggressively frowned upon and talked badly about not only by my peers, but by my teachers who made it much, much worse,” they said. Their support for Trump was based on a number of factors. “I voted for my religion. With Harris in office, Israel over time would cease to exist. Many people bring up abortion but if they had done research, they would know abortion is up to the states and Trump has no say or pull in the states’ decisions. Furthermore, the whole ‘Project 2025’ stuff, which Trump has no part of and has never even seen the document, also contributed to my frustrations with political arguments within Parker,” they said.
The topic of the election made its way into the school quickly, whether in a student government presentation or a history class discussion. The administration provided spaces for students to reflect throughout the day.
“At first when I saw the election results I wasn’t too upset about it. When I got to school after the election, I saw many people upset. In classes we would talk about the election results and most of the teachers seemed down when bringing up the topic. In choir Mr. Jackson allowed us to leave if choir was ‘not the space we wanted to be in right now,’” one student said.
Because people were making jokes and being disrespectful, they joined Ms. Zeller, Mr. Bruno, and a number of seniors in the Humanities Center. “When I walked in I could feel the mood in there was just devastating. The energy was just weighing down on everyone. I sat down and we started talking about how each of the people in the room felt. When it came to my turn I was very upset and wasn’t quite sure how to answer how things were going. Mr. Bruno asked how things were going for me and all I could think about was how confused I was. First off, I couldn’t believe how a convicted felon was put in office before a woman. I was also super annoyed at other people for almost bragging about how they were right, almost like their beliefs were better than mine because Trump won. Mr Bruno asked me how our class as a whole was doing and all I could think about was how divided it was,” they said.
The student described the feelings of others in the building. “I thought about it and I realized that it wasn’t the winner or loser that made me upset because as a very fortunate kid and a 15 year old it didn’t have too much effect on me. But it was the division and devastation I saw amongst my classmates. I would say I’m a pretty upbeat kid and I like to see everyone happy, but the low energy and the sad expressions on everyone’s face and the other people laughing and making fun of people’s beliefs really just made me upset. I think Parker did a good job making sure there was an environment that people could go to and talk about the results, and I want to thank Ms. Zeller and Mr. Bruno for that. I feel that already the election is in the past and occasionally there are arguments in classes, but for the most we’re getting back to normal.”
This student appreciated the ability to process the events of the election with others. “I hope that in the future when something big or controversial happens together as a school, we can not only have spaces for everyone to voice their opinions, but I also hope that we can have an environment where everyone’s opinions are welcomed and accepted. The division after the election was something that I would rather leave in the past, and hopefully it can stay there.”
