Another fall Saturday in Auburn saw Toomer's Oaks rolled with toilet paper. But with it being a bye week for the Tigers, those gathering weren't celebrating a football win.
Supporters of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party gathered at Toomer's Corner around 12:30 p.m. after Biden was called by several major national news outlets this morning to win the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The crowd was comprised of Auburn students, some who were members of the Auburn College Democrats, and community members.
The gathering received occasional honks from passing vehicles seemingly in a show of solidarity – not too dissimilar to protests in June at Toomer's Corner following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis. A similar demonstration was held at Toomer's Corner in November 2016 after President Donald Trump's election win.
Carsten Grove, senior in industrial systems engineering and president of the Auburn University College Democrats, said he was relieved President Donald Trump will be exiting the Oval Office in January if the calls for Biden are valid.
"Even if [Trump] doesn't want to accept the results, his time is up in the White House and I think we're all excited about that," Grove said.
Grove said he initially did not back Biden as a candidate, but once the former vice president won the Democratic primary, he had his support.
"Really whatever we could do to get [Trump] out of office, that was what I wanted to do," he said. "At this point, it was more than just Democrat versus Republican, it was really seeing someone trying to undermine the fabric of our democracy. It was terrible for our country; I'm glad it'll be over soon."
Courtney Guinane, a spring 2020 Auburn graduate in wildlife, expressed similar thoughts about Biden and the Democratic win.
"I was a Bernie Sanders supporter – still, I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter – but [Biden] is at least competent, and he can do somewhat right by us I'm hoping," she said. "I hope that the movement that got him elected will stay in there to also hold him accountable and make laws that supported the people who voted for him."
Guinane said she feels the U.S. has lost the respect of other nations on the world stage over the course of the last four years the Trump administration has held office. She said she believes Trump has provided alt-right views with more of a platform that did not exist before he became president in 2017.
"I really hope that ... maybe we can bring reform about to the police system, because ... it needs to get fixed," Guinane said. "Today we can celebrate, and tomorrow it will be a fight."
Chalk drawings show support for president-elect Joe Biden and the Democratic Party on Nov. 7, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.
In showing their support, people made chalk drawings on the sidewalk lining South College Street on Samford Lawn. They read phrases such as "I voted" and "#Blennsylvania," a nod to the Democratic Party's flip of Pennsylvania from red early in the election to blue.
The presidential race looked to be especially close there and in other battleground states like Georgia and Arizona in the middle of the week, which some at the gathering said left them uncertain about who might win the presidency.
"I think Tuesday and Wednesday [we were unsure], and then we started hearing tricklings from different friends of mine and roommates that there were more ballots from Georgia coming in that are Democrat," Rebecca Scott, second-year graduate student in English. "That's when I started feeling more hopeful."
Neighboring Georgia still has yet to choose its two senators, whom voters in the state will elect in January through two run-off elections. The winners of the run-offs could determine whether the U.S. Senate remains in control of the Republican Party or goes to the Democratic Party.
Given Auburn's short distance to the Georgia state line, Grove said AUCD is hoping to connect with fellow chapters at Georgia colleges and universities ahead of the state's run-offs.
"Pretty soon we are going to be starting to reach out now that the presidential election is over; we're going to start putting all of our focus on Georgia," Grove said. "Just because Donald Trump is out of office and Biden's going to take over doesn't mean the fight is over."
Grove said AUCD will seek to support the Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff campaigns, the two Democratic senator candidates, as the elections near.
"The best we could do is a 50-50 split in the [U.S.] Senate, but [Democratic control] is something that would really help go a long way fighting climate change, to fighting bigotry and hatred and the systemic problems of the police."
For some, the significance of the Biden win wasn't the president-elect, but his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, now vice president-elect. Harris will be the first female, Black, Indian-American and Asian-American vice president collectively.
"The fact we have a Black female vice president now, which I have to say is amazing," said Grace Guida, an Auburn graduate in English. "That is worth celebrating."
Scott echoed these sentiments, saying having Harris as vice president will show America has made progress in fair government representation.
"Having [Harris] ... is going to show the capability of Black women and that we should start caring about Black women and treating Black women right," Scott said.
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Tim Nail, junior in journalism, is the campus editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
