A group of Augustana College students gathered to watch the inauguration and share their thoughts about the ceremony and the President's speech.
Alicia Oken is an Augustana senior who is interested and involved in politics.
"I'm really proud to be an American after the inauguration," says Oken, "It just makes you really enthusiastic to be here in this country and I really wish I was there right now."
Oken helped organize the inauguration viewing party at Augustana, so her classmates could watch the event live.
"It was really nice seeing the President that I voted for to be speaking to all of America, it's always really nice," adds Oken.
The 2012 election was the first time Oken and some of her classmates voted for President.
"I've never really watched an inauguration celebration before, so it was kind of cool to come down and check it out," says Alex Rindone, an Augustana Senior.
Many of the students were looking for key points in President Obama's inaugural speech.
"He talked about women's pay and everyone having equal rights," says Augustana Senior Rachael Hastings, "I liked that he mentioned the constitution and how he talked about how we need to apply it to now, rather than when it was written."
Quite a few of the students at the watch party room are graduating this year. They're concerned about the job market and they wanted to make sure that it was addressed.
"I was thinking about what I'm going to do next year," adds Hastings, "I was wondering what's going to be good for me next year, when I don't know if I will have a real job."
Having students watch the inauguration will help the group discuss and debate the speech.
"We saw on TV thousands and thousands of people who had gathered together as an American community to watch this peaceful transition and I think it's good for us to do this as a mini-version here at Augustana," says Christopher Whitt, An Augustana Assistant Political Science Professor.
