Miami University Students to Attend Donald Trump's inauguration

BY KEXIN YUE

Miami University journalism student

Three groups of Miami University students will attend the inauguration ceremonies to witness the moment Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States Friday.

Miami will have more than 50 students at the inauguration -- 16 from the Inside Washington semester program; 12 with MU2DC, a winter term study away program; and 24 from the Governmental Relations Network program.

Cheryl Gibbs, senior clinical professor of journalism, brought 16 students to Washington, DC with the semester-long Inside Washington Program.

Another 12 are part of a three-credit winter term class called MU2DC, which provides students interested in pursuing a career in the nation’s capital an opportunity to learn from Miami alum and other leaders.

“Students will be doing some shadowing opportunities, to meet with locals, political scientists, journalists,” said Lynn Butler, Miami’s Study Abroad and Away coordinator. “They are looking at the democracy in the United States from different approaches.”

Butler said she thinks the inauguration is an exciting time to watch the peaceful transfer of power.

"The country is very divided and a lot of people are very emotional about the direction of our country and politics. It's an incredible opportunity to be in DC to watch this,” Butler said. “I mean it’s just what an interesting time in history.”

The Inside Washington Program wants its students to witness history.

“Regardless of what your political views, it’s a historical event,” Gibbs said. “It’s an interesting experience worth observing, it’s not we are explicitly showing or not showing support for political point of view.”

Gibbs and her students are going to walk around to see what the area looks like Thursday, and then decide how early they want to be at the ceremony. Gibbs said students have been going through an enormous amount of preparation before going the inauguration.

“They will be asked to reflect on what they learned,” she said. “But the main thing is to see our one of the most unique democracy in action.”

“It’s also an opportunity to see the way that America executes .... transferring power,” Gibbs said. “Our president historically turns over the key of the White House basically without objection, it’s just what we do.”

Some of the program's students are also planning to go to Women’s March on Saturday, the day after the inauguration.

“The most important thing from my perspective is that our students get the witness to history,” Gibbs said. “That includes not only the inauguration (but the Women’s March.)”

Check out the guide to the inauguration here: https://washington.org/DC-guide-to/presidential-inauguration-washington-dc

Daniel Luddeke, a freshman majoring diplomacy and global politics, received tickets to the inauguration from Ohio representative Brad Wenstrup. He spoke to Channel 19 in Cincinnati about the trip. Watch the video here: http://www.fox19.com/clip/13031625/miami-university-student-headed-to-the-inauguration