By Brian Ray

For University of Louisville Professor Dewey Clayton, Barack Obama’s victory in the Nov. 4 election was not only a historic moment in American history, but a moment of personal catharsis.
“It was only 43 years ago that African Americans could not vote,” Clayton said. “Now we have elected the first African American President of the United States.”
In his acceptance speech Tuesday night, Obama told the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago, “change has come to America” and, “this is your victory.”
U of L students responded to this message in a variety of different ways, with some boisterous and others more reserved.
“I looked out my window and saw cars in front of my dorm with people hanging out the sunroof and windows,” senior accounting major and Betty Johnson resident Marshall Kaufman said. “There were people shouting and making noise because Obama had been elected.”
Brian Moore, a freshman political science and justice administration major, also heard the shouts and screams of joy, but received them with less satisfaction than others.
“I think the way that some of the people were acting around here was ridiculous,” Moore said. “People act like Obama is going to save us, but we are still in a rut.”
Moore’s disappointment was echoed by others, many of whom question whether or not Obama is the antidote to the country’s woes.
“I was very disappointed that [Obama] won,” said Caleb Greenwell, a junior pre-med, biology and physiology major. “Don’t get me wrong, he is a brilliant speaker, but sadly that is all.”
Greenwell added he feels Obama’s victory was so large because of both the financial crisis and the misperception of many Americans that the president controls the fate of the economy.
“Americans are not too bright,” Greenwell said. “Americans think that presidential power is absolute and that Bush could have done something to prevent this crisis. [Bush] and the Republicans tried but the democratically ruled congress stopped him.”
For students like Kaufman though, Obama’s election represents the only path to end the problem.
“Americans have realized that they need change,” said Kaufman. “They have made up their mind about this financial crisis and they put the person in the White House who they think will be able to fix this mess.”