The 2024 presidential election resulted in a second non-consecutive term for former President Donald Trump. With the addition of a Republican Senate majority, a possible Republican House majority and a conservative Supreme Court, many Suffolk University students are left feeling scared and grieving.
Initial reactions after the Associated Press formally called the next president of the United States in the early hours of Nov. 6 were shock, devastation, fear and, for some, relief.
For the first time in the three presidential races Trump campaigned, he won the popular vote in addition to winning the electoral college.
The Suffolk community significantly leans towards more liberal and democratic views and Massachusetts is a state that consistently votes blue in elections. Because of this, many students are worried about what their futures could look like under Republican control.
Beatriz Rodrigues, a junior psychology major, is an immigrant from Brazil and said the results were not political, they were personal. She said the morning after the election, she woke up to her mother crying and scared.
“I couldn’t tell you a single thing about their [Trump’s campaign] finances or whatnot, it was just an emotional thing seeing my parents like that, [it] broke me completely. And to know that people would vote for someone that would get people to feel that way just absolutely breaks me,” Rodrigues said.
One of the biggest platforms that Trump campaigned on was his extreme immigration and border control policies.
“They’re [Rodrigues’ parents] good people at heart, and they’re kind, and they moved to America to give their daughter, their only child, a better life and a better chance,” Rodrigues said. “To see people that are able to meet my parents and then still be so proudly telling everyone that they voted for Trump and close the borders is just so heartbreaking.”
Lauren Falz, a sophomore psychology major, said that voting is a responsibility. For Falz, whose parents are immigrants and cannot vote, this was the first time her family had a voice in an election.
“I’m voting for everyone in a way, and for my family. And it’s a lot to think about, and it was a lot to process the time,” Falz said. “It’s a beautiful thing that we get to vote. It’s awesome that we even have the right to but it’s also, I wouldn’t say [it’s] a burden, but you definitely feel the responsibility.”
The results of the election affected people in different ways. For Fayth Cordeiro, a freshman public relations major, seeing the sexism that was at play during the election was challenging to accept.
“It’s just so disheartening,” Cordeiro said. “Especially as a girl, in a family with so many girls, we’re always told to be independent, not rely on anybody and work so hard just to get the bare minimum. And then seeing somebody who was overqualified, if anything, lose it because of a businessman who has no political backing.”
Annamarana Roberts-Biggs, a sophomore double major in political science and criminal justice, said that she was devastated by the results and recognized that there was a lot at stake with this election. However, she said it is not a time to give up.
“I’m at the point where I had my time to grieve. It’s been a few days and I’m at the point where now I’m just really angry,” Roberts-Biggs said. “I’m ready to band a community together and to organize and to keep fighting because it’s a really dark time for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean we can just become complacent and hide away.”
Throughout the presidential campaign, people across the country had varying views on what was going to happen. For Hannah Peoples, a sophomore history major, they said the results are what they were expecting.
“I didn’t have a lot of hope in the Harris campaign as much as I wanted to, so I was disappointed, but I wasn’t surprised by anything except just how many swing states she lost,” Peoples said.
However, not everyone in the Suffolk community was disappointed in the results.
Jose Larios, a sophomore financial wealth management major, said he felt a sense of relief when Trump was declared the winner.
“I felt that if Kamala was to be declared president, there would have been a lot of uncertainty,” said Larios.
Larios said a major reason for this was the financial and economic promises that Trump has made.
Not everyone agrees that Trump’s economic plan is helpful. Trump has promised to lower inflation and bring down costs across the country, according to The New York Times, many economists doubt how realistic his plan is. Some students at Suffolk agree.
Charlie Reyna-Demes, a junior double major in political science and economics said, “[My] biggest concern with the economy is his, and especially the more overarching Republican doctrine of tariffs, I do not believe in. It actually raises the cost for the American consumer.”
Reyna-Demes said that he has seen many people across the country who are more concerned with the increased cost of living than their fundamental rights. While many people who are politically active look at overarching human rights, not everyone sees politics in the same light.
“Americans vote with their wallets, I think it’s just sad,” he said.
Justin Foster, a junior financial planning major, said that most of Trump’s policies would not help people in the United States.
“Implementing tariffs on imports won’t help the average American citizen. Depleting the Department of Education won’t help the average American citizen. Kicking millions of workers out of the U.S. is only going to make things more expensive. There’s not a single thing that Trump ran on that I think would benefit the majority of America,” said Foster.
Aside from the economy, Trump ran his campaign on the promise of a “mass deportation” for immigrants living in the United States. This issue divided many voters.
Larios is an international student from Guatemala and is attending college on a merit-based student visa. He expressed his support of deportations in the country.
“If you enter the country illegally, you have committed a crime, and you should be deported,” he said.
Lairos explained that he feels illegal immigration is harmful to the Latino community.
“It gives us a bad name because then everybody thinks Latinos only cross the border illegally, they don’t do anything good, they don’t even try to learn English. And then people like me, who is Latino and who has been trying his whole life to get a merit-based student visa, it takes a toll on you,” said Lairos.
Towards the end of his campaign, Trump said that both legal and illegal immigrants could be deported with his “mass deportation” plan. Larios said that he’s not worried about being deported.
Other immigrants and students who have immigrant families feel much differently.
Rodrigues is currently in the process of getting her green card, but now fears she will not have the opportunity to complete the process.
“It’s been two years since I started the process, and for me, just thinking like, will I get it now? I’m just freaking out. I paid so much for lawyers and I’m in the final step, and now I’m just like, will it happen now, or will I continue to be undocumented?” Rodrigues said.
Rodrigues said that she does not trust the system and is worried that it will become even more difficult for people to get legal status in the country.
“I’m just really hoping that I’ll be able to stay and that I won’t like that, the system won’t just abandon me,” Rodrigues said.
For some, there are many intersecting issues at stake with the Trump administration.
“I’m definitely concerned as a woman, as a woman of color, as someone who has immigrant parents at home and also a woman that takes birth control,” Falz said.
Reproductive rights were another issue that many people are concerned about leading into another Trump presidency.
After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, 21 states have bans or restrictions on abortion, according to The New York Times.
Roberts-Briggs said that although she feels the privilege of living in a blue state as a queer woman, she worries for what the future could hold.
“I am very privileged and lucky enough to live in the state of Massachusetts, and I also come from Colorado, so both of those states have really good protections for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights within their constitutions and within their governments,” Roberts-Briggs said. “But I think that you know you never know what could happen, especially with the threats of Project 2025 it looks like a Republican trifecta is forming.”
Cordeiro said that she has a birth control implant in her arm and explained how there are many misconceptions about birth control and contraceptives.
“People [who] are fighting for abortion, it’s not because they want to have sex and then abort a child. It’s truly not. It’s the fact that we’re taking away a choice that we don’t know if we’ll have to make,” Cordeiro said.
Cordeiro said sexism still plays a significant part when it comes to the fight for reproductive rights.
“I’m not equal because I have a vagina and you have a penis, that’s truly what it is,” Cordeiro said. “That’s not based on my intelligence or my character, it’s truly based on I have a vagina and I have a uterus, and I think it’s just so sick.”
Foster said that while his identity will not put him at risk under many of the policies Trump has proposed, there are so many people who will be, and he struggles to understand how more people don’t see this.
“Donald Trump is a 34-count felon, a serial predator, mocks disabled journalists and Kamala Harris might be the most qualified presidential candidate we’ve ever had. She worked at all three levels of government, and I don’t see how it couldn’t be a clear choice,” Foster said.
Another issue that was prominent for many voters was the ongoing war and genocide happening in the Middle East. The United States has a long-time alliance with Israel and has continued to aid Israel in its invasion of Gaza and other parts of Palestine.
Peoples said that although they voted for Harris, they were disappointed with how the Harris-Walz campaign handled the issue but said that it still would have been better than Trump’s stance.
“We have these leaders who have to compromise their own integrity for the sake of our country over anyone else’s. I really don’t think it would hurt us to do something right for the people of Palestine, and I think if it did hurt us, I think that’s kind of a bullet we have to take,” said Peoples.
Because of this issue and other polarizing issues that occurred during the campaign, Peoples said that their participation in the democratic process was underwhelming.
“It didn’t feel like this thing that I was participating in, it felt like this thing where I was in the back of the class and I was raising my hand, and no one would call on me,” Peoples said.
On Nov. 9, there was a student-led and focused vigil to mourn the loss of the Harris campaign and the loss of rights and freedoms that Trump has promised.
Joey Pisani, a freshman political science major, along with Alice Jenkins, a student at Syracuse University originally from Western Massachusetts, led an intimate gathering on the front steps of the Massachusetts State House.
With many feeling hopeless and sad, Pisani and other speakers emphasized that the fight isn’t over.
“Change is not the 15 second TikTok videos you watch, it’s a software update that says it takes 15 minutes, but always takes longer,” Pisani said.
While many were feeling discouraged and lost, Pisani reminded the people there that it’s the future that’s at stake, it’s kids’ futures who have no idea what’s happening, it’s the future of everyone who can’t fight. The vigil brought hope to many students in a time where freedom is at stake.
While the United States heads into an uncertain time, there are many different worries for people. The claims that Trump made during his campaign have the potential to impact a lot of people in the Suffolk community and throughout the United States.
Jessa DiDonato, a junior global and cultural communications major, said that Trump would not force her to hide who she is as a gay woman
“I feel like he won’t make me change my views. He will not change who I am. He will not make me scared. If anything, he will make me stronger and fight more and just be more proud; I feel even more proud. Even though we don’t have the power, I feel like I do have a lot of power because I am unapologetically myself,” said DiDonato.
