IU students make journey to Washington, D.C. to support, protest presidential inauguration

It meant missing three days of classes, but nothing was going to keep junior Tyler Wallace from attending George W. Bush's presidential inauguration. Wallace, a member of the IU College Republicans, jumped at the chance when the student political organization offered its members tickets to attend the historic ceremony.\nWallace hopped on a plane to Washington, D.C. Wednesday and found himself about 100 yards from the Capitol Building by Thursday morning. \n"It's just a really neat experience to be standing there with the president, congressmen and senators from all over right in front of you," Wallace said by phone Thursday from Washington, D.C. "You never imagine you'd be here. It's something you only see in textbooks or on TV."\nOther IU students also joined in the inaugural festivities -- both to cheer on and to protest Bush as he officially began his second term.\nSophomore Mike Luurtsema got in a van headed for the nation's capital Wednesday with a group of Bloomington protesters he didn't even know. Twelve hours later, he was marching the streets of D.C. opposing the president.\n"Honestly, on election night I decided to go, before Kerry even conceded," Luurtsema said. "I thought it was common sense to vote Bush out of office. Being in Indiana, I felt like my voice wasn't heard. So I thought by coming out here, I would make it heard."\nJunior Michelle Myers flew to D.C. after a friend had an extra ticket to the inauguration. They ended up almost directly in front of the Capitol and later attended the Constitutional Ball at the Washington D.C. Hilton.\n"It's kind of surreal," Myers said. "It's exciting, and being in the action, actually knowing that I worked hard and tried to get out to vote for Republicans in Indiana, makes it special."\nJunior Chase Downham also attended the event -- though his travel time was a little shorter than the others'. Downham is interning with Indiana Congressmen Mike Pence, R-Ind., this semester through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs' Washington Leadership Program. \nDownham had been hoping to attend the inauguration and found out at the last minute he'd be up close to the ceremony. He watched from the lawn of the Capitol on the House side.\n"It was really just amazing," Downham said. "For a kid that grew up in small-town Indiana, it was a lifetime experience. I don't know if it was the cold or the awe, but I had chills the whole time."\nHe said just being in D.C. has been a great experience, but witnessing such a monumental event is truly memorable.\n"The sun was out and the way it shone on the Capitol made a magical scene to it all," he said. "I don't know if you ever get used to things like that, even people that live in D.C. all the time. It's hard to believe you're even there."\nSecurity at the inauguration was intense: Downham waited nearly two hours to get in, and Wallace said police were everywhere -- among the crowd, on top of buildings and walking the streets. Wallace even rode with four German shepherd police dogs on the plane ride from Chicago, flown in for the inauguration.\n"It was incredible," Wallace said. "Not a single person in the security field in D.C. got the day off. It was safe, to say the least."\nMyers only missed two classes, and one of them was a political science course -- U.S. Presidential Elections. That professor, Myers said, wasn't reluctant to excuse her absence. \n"His reaction to me coming to Washington was, 'If you can get me a ticket, that's great, I'll excuse it,'" Myers said. "But really, he said it was fine, that it would be excused. I told (the class) I'd bring back pictures."\nLuurtsema also missed three days of classes. He said professors were generally receptive to his protesting mission.\n"I told all my professors where I was going and most were very supportive," he said. "One even told me to protest the heck out of it. Now I'm excited to start getting more active in this sort of thing."\nWith a heap of work awaiting his return to Bloomington, Wallace said the experience was worth it.\n"Most of my professors were really understanding, but I'm sure there will be some work," he said. "It was definitely worth it. This only comes around every four years, and if you get the opportunity to go, it's definitely a great experience."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.