On Wednesday, November 6th, the morning after election day, anyone passing by through CRLS front doors would have very little trouble finding out who had won the 2024 presidential election. Despite the early hour, a group of people stood clustered around a folding table setup outside the entrance, offering passerbyers comforting hugs and the chance to write on an anti-Trump poster. A walk down the hall leading to the CRLS library would only erase any further doubt. From groups of kids huddled together, phrases like “well, he won” and “I just couldn’t study last night” were clearly audible.
CRLS students experienced a range of emotions after the results of the presidential election came out, varying from anger and sadness to happiness and even to simple indifference. Orlando Spadola ’27, described waking up that morning as a “surreal feeling.” “I was just shocked,” Spadola said to the Register Forum, still looking stunned. Though sitting only one table apart, junior Kenny Duperval’s, reaction could not have differed more to Orlando’s. “I didn’t care,” Duperval said to the Register Forum. “I felt like its been the same whoever wins. I haven’t seen any changes no matter whose been winning.” Others, like Alonso Berry ’27, and Mr. Joseph Nicholson, a pre-calculus teacher, stated that they felt “no surprise” at the election results. “I just think the country’s looking for change and Vice President Harris represents more of the same,” Mr. Nicholson explained to the Register Forum. “I was not pleased,” Berry told the Register Forum, explaining that Trump “has a past as both a failed businessman and president and he’s gonna do it with the country.”
Other students blamed the Democratic party for Harris’s loss. “I am frustrated with the failure of the Democratic Party,” Daniel Morland ’27 told the Register Forum. “They failed to effectively respond to voters’ concerns, allowing Trump to return to office.” Griffin Byrne ’27 had a different take. “I think the loss was a combination of Harris and her campaign,” Byrne said. “She had only 4 months, but if Biden had chosen a better vice president, Trump might not still be in office.”
At the other end of the political spectrum, some students welcomed the shift in power. “I’m so happy,” a smiling student, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Register Forum. “I think taxes will be lower and this country will be safer. The economy is going to progress.” Mr. Norbert Hootsmans, an Algebra 2 teacher, said that while he has “mixed feelings” about the results, he believes “there will be some benefits for the economy” and “a better approach to managing the deficit and health care cost.”
Zaida Pingitorie ’27 had a different label for Trump’s victory: scary. “It scares me how much of the country voted for somebody who is not only a felon but speaks disgustingly about women, immigrants, and people of color,” Pingitorie told the Register Forum. She added, however, that she “felt pretty safe here in Cambridge, in this bubble that we live in.” Benjamin Scott ’28, described Cambridge in the same way. “Massachusetts will be fine because it’s in its own little liberal bubble,” Scott said, “but a lot of other places will be screwed.”
