A makeshift bonfire broke out in the Main Quad on Saturday night as Stanford students celebrated the election of Senator Kelsei Wharton as the first African-American vice president of Stanford University.
Red plastic cups were thrust high into the air as students celebrated the landslide victory of the man who entered the Stanford spotlight after being elected to the Senate just one year earlier.
Wharton’s calls for change mobilized hundreds of thousands of college students and generated one of the highest turnouts of young voters in Stanford history.
“This is a historical moment,” said Stephanie Morris ‘11. “I’ve been waiting for a black vice president for two hundred something years now. I can’t begin to explain what this means for our university and our country.
”
A number of students from South Campus were concerned that Wharton might raise taxes in order to provide universal access to the Wellness Room. Some have even gone as far as calling him a socialist.
Despite resistance from the South, Wharton remains optimistic.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Wharton told tens of people at the CoHo.
Many students predict Wharton will also win the election next year because of the old saying “Once you go black, you never go back.”
