Harvard Reacts to the Presidential Election

Contributed by Luis E. Cardenas

On November 6th, Trump’s stunning election upset was met by a gentle, sunny morning in Harvard Yard. Harvard was surprisingly quiet as well: if Harvard's reaction to the 2016 election was marked by denial or anger, the 2024 reaction was marked by dejection. This week, the campus has been somber, with students, faculty, and staff exchanging feelings of distress. 

Shortly after Trump’s victory became evident, various groups, from the Office of BGLTQ Student Life to Wellness and Mental Health Tutors, began offering post-election community resources and affinity spaces for students to process the election. The Institute of Politics (IOP) gave out free pastries and treats all day Wednesday—seemingly for consolation rather than celebration. The giveaway was accompanied by a space for open conversation and additional office hours with the IOP leadership to, among other things, discuss “feelings about the election.”

Departments similarly attempted to support students: as Physics Professor Jenny Hoffman noted, “many in our community are sleep-deprived, again grieving for glass ceilings that weren’t shattered, fearful for the future, or embarrassed to face our international colleagues.” Professor Hoffman had kindly “stress-baked several pans of lemon bars to share” with students.

Other professors opted to cancel classes entirely or, in the case of American Foreign Policy, turn morning sections into therapeutic origami sessions. Intermediate Microeconomics announced that the regular in-class quiz, which measures attendance, would be optional as students “recover from the eventful election night and process the implications of Trump’s victory.” Another general education course scrapped an assignment to provide “respite” for students. Even classes that conducted business as usual were overshadowed by the election: Government Professor Yuhua Wang opened his lecture by saying, “I hope you have recovered from the election. I have not.”

The election watch party in Sanders Theater. Credit: Harvard Institute of Politics.

Less muted or comforting, however, were the student reactions on Sidechat, an anonymous social media forum for Harvard undergraduates. Posts to fellow students this week included:

“F*ck you MAGA voters. F*ck your selfishness and your cruelty. He is a rapist and a racist. He is terrible. How dare you call yourselves patriots.” (130 upvotes)

“I hope the country burns! I hope they win the house and the checks & balances disappear! I hope they pass all the legislation they want! I hope they raise the price of imports so the price of eggs shoot up another 100%!”

“Not like it changed anything but f*ck the republican club too, f*ck ass endorsement.” (299 upvotes)

“As a European, why tf is it so hard to not vote for a felon.” (595 upvotes)

“Saw a gaggle of MAGA hats at the yard just now and almost barfed.”

“How can Trump supporters at Harvard even exist.”

“No test or class for a week, if candidate wins this is too traumatic.”

“As an international, I feel like actually sick.”

More lightheartedly (and tastefully), some opted to cope with humor:

“Dems so bad maybe we did steal the last elections.” (180 upvotes)

“Today is national coming out as conservative day.”

“To be fair if an IOP kid came to my door telling me to vote blue I would also vote for Trump.” 

“Looks like Kamala didn't make Oval Office final dinner.” (729 upvotes)

Yet, not all of the posts were disparaging. One post, met with 607 upvotes, insightfully remarked, “some of yall at Harvard really gotta get out of the echo chamber. if you don't ever talk to average people in red states, you'll never be able to understand why people vote Trump and you'll fail to argue better.” 

On an overwhelmingly liberal campus, it seems most students cannot fathom how Trump could win. Every reaction from the Crimson Editorial Board lamented Harris’s loss, often expressing frustration with Trump voters. The only astute observation was from editor Julia S. Dan ‘26, who noted that “we don’t know our neighbors…convinced by TikTok campaigns, echo chambers, and a complete sense of detachment from the prevailing values of the average American, Harvard students were still shocked.”

The dejection on campus is as much the product of shock as disappointment. The Democratic Party is now reckoning with the platform it thought America wanted: as Harvard moves past its sorrow, it too will have to reckon with its faulty conception of America and the Republican Party.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece said that Intermediate Microeconomics made assignments optional. The optional assignment was a measure of attendance.