By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
Despite the presence of a distinguished faculty panel seated at the Woodrow Wilson School’s Dodds Auditorium for Tuesday’s inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th president, there was little doubt as to the main attraction — the monumental event playing out on the projection screen at the front of the room.
The overflow crowd of approximately 150 sat politely through the panel discussion until, at the outset of a question and answer period, the televised backdrop beamed images of Barack and Michelle Obama’s two daughters, Malia Ann and Natasha, descending to their seats on the inaugural dias at the nation’s capital. Calls for the lights to be lowered so those gathered could watch history being made were swiftly followed and the swearing-in of the first African-American president in U.S. history was avidly watched.
All stood for Barack Obama’s swearing-in as if they were in Washington themselves, watching the oath of office administered in slightly mangled fashion by Chief Justice John A. Roberts, then breaking into an enthusiastic ovation upon its completion. And all in the auditorium listened raptly to President Obama’s eloquent inaugural speech, calling upon the nation to “pick itself up and dust itself off” and tackle the difficult problems ahead. When the national anthem was sung, the audience at the Woodrow Wilson School again stood, and enthusiastically joined in.
”A feeling of wonder I think would be the only way to describe it,” said Princeton Township Mayor Bernie Miller of his thoughts just after the inaugural events had concluded. Mayor Miller attended the event at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School as well as another inaugural event at the Princeton Public Library with his wife Ruth.
”We are just thrilled and excited and as he said, it is a new direction,” Mayor Miller said.
”It’s hope, yes we can,” said Ms. Miller.
”It is quite in the spirit of Obama that you have chosen to share this event as a community rather than at home,” said Nolan McCarty, associate dean of the Woodrow Wilson School, following the televised inauguration. Mr. McCarty invited all in attendance to “continue the celebration” at a reception following the event.
In opening the event, Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter said she knew enough to keep her remarks short at an event whose centerpiece would be the elevated oratory of Barack Obama.
”If America is an idea, it is the idea that human beings can come together and commit themselves to a set of human principles,” enabling them to accomplish things that “couldn’t be done,” Ms. Slaughter said. Barack Obama’s election and inauguration were examples of such accomplishments, she said.
”To call the moment historic is the worst kind of understatement,” said Mr. McCarty. “The ascension of Barack Obama is a powerful symbol of opportunity and racial progress,” he said.
Despite discouraging news on many fronts “it is a day for celebration,” said Brandice Canes-Wrone, professor of politics and public affairs. “Celebration of a peaceful transition of power and, of course, the inauguration of our first black president,” Ms. Canes-Wrone said.
Such an event was unthinkable even recently, but “since 1970 the number of black elected officials in our country has increased six-fold, from 1,500 to more than 9,000,” Ms. Canes-Wrone said. This type of sea change could occur because America is a nation of immigrants, “which has meant we are a nation looking forward rather than back at past grievances,” she said.
Barack Obama embodies this forward-looking nature, Ms. Canes-Wrone said. “He reminds us through his own meteoric rise in politics and his ability to inspire so many people in America,” along with his wife, who came from a modest background and then attended Princeton and Harvard Law School on the way to her own successful career, she said.
”Seldom, as has been noted, perhaps since Lincoln, has a president been presented upon taking office with a portfolio of more daunting challenges,” said Jim Leach, a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School and a former Republican U.S. Representative who represented southeast Iowa in Congress from 1977 to 2006. Mr. Leach spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August, endorsing Mr. Obama.
”What ties together the various themes Barack Obama has set forth in his quest for the presidency is a desire to reach out to the un-empowered, to the underdog at home and abroad, to people crying out for respect. It is their hopes and aspirations that must be listened to and addressed if there is any chance of uniting America and diminishing conflict in the world,” Mr. Leach told the audience at the Woodrow Wilson School.
”For good reason the American people voted last November for a new generation of leadership. Now, on this remarkable day of transition, the American melting pot is bubbling with new ideas and renewed energy,” Mr. Leach said.
”With a confident sense both of self and of American history, Barack Obama comes to the highest office in the land. We all have a vested interest in helping insure that his administration succeeds. We cannot allow it to fail,” he said.

