President-elect Barack Obama and Student Body Vice President Abhay Nadipuram pose for a picture during Obama's visit to campus. Submitted Photo
LUKE SHANNO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Four Wartburg students will witness history on Tuesday, Jan. 20 in Washington D.C. as they will watch the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama on the west side of the U.S. Capitol.
Student Body Vice President Abhay Nadipuram, Jessica Stadler, Sam Dunn and Amanda Gahler will join thousands of onlookers using 240,000 tickets handed out by congressional members across the country. Millions of non-ticket holders are also expected to make the pilgrimage to D.C. to be part of the inauguration festivities.
For Nadipuram, the ability to see the inauguration live brings his experiences full circle.
Nadipuram started working for the Obama field office in Waverly the summer of 2007, campaigning for the future president.
“It was very interesting to see why this election, this inauguration are so important because, all of a sudden, people were back in the swing of politics,” Nadipuram said. “They understood why politics mattered. They understood why government mattered.”
His connections to Obama run deeper than just his campaign work. Nadipuram met Obama on two separate occasions.
He saw Obama in August of 2007 when the then Illinois Senator addressed a group of people at Waverly Light and Power.
In December of 2007, Obama was on the Wartburg campus and Nadipuram introduced him to hundreds of people inside Neumann Auditorium before he addressed the crowd of faculty, staff and community members.
In the summer of 2008, Nadipuram completed a seven week internship in the office of Senator Chuck Grassley (IA-R) and maintained contact with members of Grassley’s staff. Those connections led to tickets to the inauguration for Nadipuram.
“I’m excited to see the swearing-in of the President-elect. I don’t think it’s something that I will ever forget. Him standing there, taking the oath of office that’s written in our Constitution,” Nadipuram said.
Stadler’s journey to the inauguration started in high school, before there was any historical significance to the 2009 inauguration.
Stadler was nominated by her high school government teacher to represent Iowa at the 2004 National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.
Based on her skills demonstrated through the conference and her continued success at Wartburg, she was selected to attend the University Presidential Inaugural Conference.
“The actual inauguration is the top thing because it’s such a big event, and I’ll probably never get the opportunity to go again,” Stadler said. “I’m also looking forward to some press conferences that we’re going to have where I will get to listen to people talk about the election process and everything leading up to it and what’s going to happen after President-elect Obama takes office.”
The four Wartburg students have been trying to coordinate their plans for the inauguration and the days surrounding it, hoping they can all be together while in attendance of the swearing-in ceremony.
“I’ve been to the last two inaugurations and it’s a wonderful experience. To be honest with you, you can see it better on television,” Wartburg College President William Hamm said. “I think everybody ought to go to an inauguration at least once in their life. It really is quite a thrilling experience. I think it’s neat that we have students who are able to go.”
Both students are looking forward to the inauguration. Individual events will highlight the trip, but both know that the most important thing they will see in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20 is history.
Check The Circuit and the issue of the Trumpet following the inauguration for more coverage of the Wartburg students’ trips to Washington.