Ladies and gentleman, I am going down in history. The second 2016 Presidential Debate recently took place on my very own college campus, and from here on I will forever be remembered as the one and only rollerblading photographer that captured the fleeting light of history for all of time to see. Take a look.
With the country’s attention on the Washington University campus, students embraced the perfect opportunity to make a claim in the world of politics
The border of Forest Park and the WashU campus was a popular location for other community members to speak their minds; only students and certain credentialed people were allowed on campus.
Looking for some air-time and a way to support their candidates, students crowded around the studios that different media outlets had set up all over campus.
One student took the opportunity to tackle his student debt, making a poster with his Venmo username and getting it on air. He has since made over $400.
Security was tight all over campus leading up to the debate. The rule of thumb is that if a freshman disappeared after the debate, then they were actually a member of the Secret Service, implanted into our class at the beginning of the year to keep an eye on us leading up to the debate.
MSNBC, CNN, and FOX all set up studios like the one displayed above to report news of the debate right from the scene.
Washington University was very limited in the number of students it could give admission to for the debate. Admission was allocated using a lottery system, where 500 students were randomly selected in the first round, and later narrowed down even further according to seat availability. Chancellor Wrighton even gave up his seat so one more student could experience the debate. I was unfortunately not one of the lucky few, and therefore was unable to photograph the actual debate. However, being on campus for this momentous event was an amazing experience, and I definitely got my fair share of history.