By Grace Lawson
As the morning of post-election day dawned on Nov. 6, Long Beach State students across campus could be observed huddled in groups, expressing their thoughts on the result of the 2024 election.
While some lectures were canceled for the week, others shifted to sharing sentiments about election outcomes – from presidential to California-based propositions to state officials and other national politics.
Though election results were freshly in the minds of the student body, professors were also weighing in on this year’s results.
Thomas Thrasher and Rebecca Cummings, two English professors who share an office in the McIntosh Humanities Building, agreed that waking up to the election results had been disheartening.
“I don’t know, a little disappointed – I wouldn’t say a little,” Thrasher said. “Primarily, [it is that] somebody who pretty much lies as he breathes, misogynistic, racist and so on, would be elected president. But by the same token, I’m not going anywhere, and I think the best thing to do is do whatever I can, which is quasi-legal, to resist.”
Both professors felt that the election results had left a dim feeling looming over the students and campus and felt educators should open themselves up to students as a resource of reassurance.
“I didn’t have class today, I’m meeting with them individually, but I want to address what’s going on with them and their fear and concerns and have that discussion, without it becoming another divisive discussion that makes it harder for them and makes them feel worse.” said Cummings, “But I don’t wanna be all like ‘it’s all going to be good.’”
Across campus, in the Social Sciences and Public Affairs Building, Professor Imahny Hundley was also processing the outcome of the election.
Like Cummings and Thrasher, Hundley stressed the importance of the faculty as a resource for students who are looking for a safe space to talk to someone post-election.
“Today feels like a heavy, somber day. It’s nice to be in a department where we all don’t necessarily share the same thinking but similar sentiments,” Hundley said. “So it’s nice to be in this kind of company, but yeah, today feels heavy.”
Hundley’s connection to this presidential election was more personal than previous ones, she said.
When it came time for her to cast her own vote, Hundley said she found herself thinking of many other people in her life and within her career field.
“Voting as a younger person is one thing, but as you get older you know more and you think differently,” Hundley said. “Also, as a professional social worker there are just things that matter to me because they impact the people we work with on a day-to-day basis. But also our own communities and our loved ones – that also plays a factor as well.”
The Social Sciences and Public Affairs staff have adopted an open door policy following Nov. 6 for students to visit without an appointment to speak to faculty.
As emotions heighten post-election, numerous Long Beach State professors remain open to conversations, serving as outlets for students to process their own developing feelings about the election’s outcome.
“Then, I have to teach, you gotta go on,” Cummings said. “That’s the most important thing like Tom said, you do what’s right in front of you, right now.”
