On the night of one of the most polarizing presidential elections in recent history, USC students went about their evenings in several ways.
Some stayed up late and watched the election results, others treated it like any other night and a few took advantage of the day off by spending their evening at the Fraternity Lot.
Student opinions on voting and the election seem to correlate to their election night plans. Out of 93 surveyed students, 57 said they voted.
“I (will be) sitting in my room, just kind of nervous about everything,” second-year public health student Zaria Simmons said. “I'm not sure (if I’m going to watch the election results) because I feel like I'm gonna be too nervous to not watch, but at the same time I'll be nervous to watch.”
Other students were reluctant to follow the election coverage because of its intensity, instead opting to go about their nights as usual.
"We went to the gym, and then we came to the library to catch up on stuff," second-year biology student Craig Williams said. "Even if we didn't want to (watch election coverage), it'll be in our face eventually. It's impossible to hide from it, but yeah, we'll probably just watch it while we're doing work."
Some students were in Thomas Cooper Library, taking advantage of the day off from classes to catch up on assignments.
"Well, I have some work I need to catch up on, so there's nothing really going on, so I'm just gonna probably spend another hour in the library and then go to bed early," first-year political science student Michael King said.
Students opted to prioritize personal interest over keeping up with election coverage. Four of 15 students surveyed at Thomas Cooper Library said they planned to pay attention to election results.
Other students took an apolitical approach to the evening by attending the Fraternity Lot's event that hosted Xandra, a DJ and influencer. Some students who attended said they came to put aside political differences and "to have a good time."
“(It) doesn't matter if you're voting for one or the other," first-year sports management student Tommy Stewart said. "Everyone just wants to hang out."
But some students said they were wary that people gathering at the lot could worsen political tensions.
“I'm gonna say unfortunately, especially with now how polarized the political parties are, I feel like having everyone together could end up being a bad thing,” third-year aerospace engineering student John King said.
Many students who voted told The Daily Gamecock they were keeping up with election results through online news and social media.
“I'm keeping up with the live updates on the colors of the states, so like regular Safari, and then I just tuned into CNN live updates,” first-year student Pia Patel said.
Other students who didn’t vote had the impression that college students have a decreased interest in politics.
“I feel like there's definitely a lack of interest, especially in college. A bunch of my friends, none of them voted ... (and) I feel like nowadays, people don't care as much … the younger generation just push it to the side,” second-year sociology student Bryan Enck said. “They vote (for) who their parents like ... they don't really research and go into who they would want ... I just feel like a lot of the younger people ... started caring less.”
Students who voted and were keeping up with election results, on the other hand, tended to place a higher degree of importance on young people’s civic engagement.
“(I’m) gonna sit together with some friends and watch the election results,” first-year mass communications student Reid Williams said. “I think it's important to be educated and exercise that right (to vote) ... I don't think everybody's fully into (following politics), but I feel like in terms of these major decisions, you kind of have to know why you're voting for somebody and what they're gonna do for you.”