Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris Inaugurated; Academy Celebrates

By: Stacy Chen, Safira Schiowitz, Ellie Ana Sperantsas, Clark Wu

Joseph R. Biden of Delaware and Kamala D. Harris of California were inaugurated as the President and Vice President of the United States respectively on Wednesday morning. Harris’s inauguration made her the first woman in U.S. history to be elected to the office of Vice President and the nation’s first Black and Asian-American Vice President. 

In the two weeks following the violent domestic terrorist on Capitol Hill, tensions remained high as the nation prepared for the transition to Biden administration. With the possibility of impeachment and future attacks, the United States was left in a state of uncertainty and division. Students and faculty are looking forward to seeing where the Biden administration will steer the future of the United States.

“Madam Vice President is making history!” upper Tanya Das said. “She is a woman of color and daughter of immigrants. She is paving the path and opening doors for many more minorities to hold positions of power and authority in our government.”

Prep Vera Aimunmondion was reassured by the change in administration. “As a Black girl it means a lot to see Kamala Harris in the Capitol Building as the Vice President. This inauguration overall symbolizes change and progression in America,” she said. “There will still be people who exist with hatred in their hearts towards others because of the color of their skin, or just ill-hearted people in general…but I hope for the best, and that this administration lives up to its promises.”

Democratic Club adviser and Academy library staff member Jacquelyne Weatherspoon celebrated Vice President Harris making history. “[It is] such a joy that she represents so many women, so many diverse parts of our culture,” she said, adding that Vice President Harris represented centuries of women striving for gender equality.

Weatherspoon served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and is the co-chair for the New Hampshire Democratic Party African-American Caucus. Vice President Harris and President Biden personally requested Mr. and Mrs. Weatherspoon’s endorsement during their campaign, and later asked for suggestions regarding the administration’s future undertakings. 

“I wrote [to Biden and Harris] about girls and tech. I wrote [to] them about maternal healthcare. I wrote to them about girls needing to attend school and how the COVID-19 has impacted their lives,” Weatherspoon said. “These are a few things that I asked Kamala to concentrate on.” 

Weatherspoon, like other members of the Exeter community, is hopeful that the Biden administration will follow through with their plans of unity.  “The messages were very good,” she said, and then asked, “How do we implement a number of these issues going forward?”

The Capitol Hill domestic terrorist attack prompted student concern about the future of American unity. “I am deeply disheartened. I’ve thought this isn’t America. This isn’t us. But I’m beginning to think it is. This is us. Although I would like to have an upbeat outlook on American politics, division has ruptured the soul of this country and I’m just not sure we have the suture to fix it,” lower Charlie Holtz said.

Upper Lila Busser contended that the Biden administration must acknowledge the disappointing current state of America. “This is the crap that has been happening for years. The country is literally founded on slavery, racism and so many ideas like that.”

Biden stated in his speech responding to the storming of Capitol Hill that the United States has always achieved its goals when its citizens work together. Busser believed that these words of encouragement do not account for the systems of oppressions still in place in the country. “America is not perfect,” she said.

Aimunmondion noted that those who stormed Capitol Hill were treated less harshly than the Black Lives Matter protesters who gathered in the summer of 2020. “The police were literally tear gassing people, [they had] rubber bullets, mace. A lot of people got hurt, even people who were protesting peacefully,” she said. 

“Now we have people storming the Capitol Building. These people, they’ve been in the shadows. They’ve always been around and they've always been having hate and racism. I [feel] like Donald Trump enabled that,” Aimunmondion continued.

Upper Ana Casey felt that there is little hope of change for the future. “I don't see how all of these groups in America can unite anytime soon. These ideas aren't going to go away, this hatred isn't going to go away,” she said.

Following the unity centered inauguration speech, Casey emphasized the difficulty of creating a fully united nation. “Disagreeing on the rights of people of color is a large difference in foundational values, which I don't think is something that can be remedied by a "unifying president,” she said.

Senior Maggie Wainwright held that Trump is a product of underlying divisive issues. “The Democratic Party has a shot to stop the tide of the disease of which Trump is a symptom over the next four years. If we squander it with inaction or centrism or a return to Obama-era policy, we are screwed,” she said.

Political clubs on campus had to decide how to handle the discussion of the recent unprecedented events. Senior and co-head of the Democratic Club Nahla Owens attended a Republican Club meeting along with her fellow co-heads. According to Owens, “[The Republican Club] elected not to talk about what happened at the Capitol even though it was the day after it happened.” She continued, saying, “I think the reasoning behind that was they said that people are tired of talking about it.”

Senior and co-head of the Academy’s Republican Club, Phil Horrigan, stated that the Student Council had a similar reaction. “There has not been any serious conversation between members of the Exec board on the event,” he said.

Horrigan anticipated hearing about unity in Biden’s inauguration speech, a prediction that was confirmed on Inauguration Day. “Biden has proven over the last couple of months that he is not going to be our progressive savior,” he said. “Instead, I foresee a continuation of the status quo. I look forward to seeing the legislation that Biden has promised to release on the first day.”

Lower Samuel Creelan contemplated how President Biden’s inauguration previewed the theme of his presidency—“national unity. Whether that be racial [or] political unity, President Biden clearly is focused on rebuilding the country after a difficult year,” Creelan said. “I liked his speech too, I thought it was direct and honest, which was reflective of his character and the character of transparency I think he’s shooting for with this new administration.”

Senior Nahla Owens, co-head of the Democratic Club, is optimistic that the recent turmoil in the United States will serve as a catalyst for change. She believes that Trump’s impeachment trials were a step towards bettering the nation. “We’re drawing a line somewhere,” she said. “I’m glad that we’re drawing that line again. I think it’s way too late to begin trying, but the fact that we’re getting there eventually makes me a little bit hopeful.” 

Owens believes that in order to heal the nation, people of all political backgrounds must initiate a civil dialogue with Trump supporters, including the perpetrators of the attack on Capitol Hill. “We need to make an effort to reach out to those 70 million people [who voted for Trump] and really hear them and say, ‘What on earth were you thinking? How can we help you? How can we fix what you saw was wrong in our country? You thought we needed a Trump, why is that? How can we do better?’” Owens continued to say that the attackers must be brought to realize that what they did was illegal, but added, “we don’t need to treat those people like a lost cause.”

Many students concurred with Owens that the past few weeks have been “a crazy time to be alive as a teenager that goes to boarding school in America.”

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