USC students gathered in the Russell House for an election watch party on Tuesday night to see the results of this year's atypical presidential election cycle. The watch party was coordinated by Student Government and other offices on campus including the Carolina Judicial Council.
Hunter Harley, the Student Government director of operations, said the watch party was meant to provide a space for students of any and all political ideologies to come together and express their views and encourage students to engage in their community.
"We find it important — not just as student government, but as a campus in general — for students to be engaged civically in not just their campus but around their community and in national politics," Harley said.
All USC students were welcome to attend the event.
Students could see live election coverage from CNN and NBC at the watch party. According to Harley, Student Government played CNN only after ensuring that the presidents of the College Republicans, College Democrats and College Libertarians were OK with it. NBC was played from a Russell House computer.
Clirae Bourke, vice president of the Carolina Judicial Council, gave a presentation about the importance of discussing politics in a civil manner and keeping an open-minded opinion.
Paige Hellman, a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, said she hoped that the Carolina Judicial Council's presence at the watch party would encourage students to converse civilly about their political opinions.