On March 30, Barack Obama spoke to a cheering crowd of 22,000 on the steps of Old Main. On Nov. 4, in the wake of his election to the presidency, students crowded those same steps in celebration.

"Rosa sat, so King could walk, so Barack could run, so we as a people could fly," Donielle Harrison (junior-crime, law and justice) said with tears in her eyes. "This is history right now."

Lit by the lights of Old Main and flashes of cameras, about a thousand students jumped, pumped their fists and proudly shouted the Pledge of Allegiance after a procession across campus.

As election totals came in, students at a party hosted by Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black sorority, erupted into cheers and poured into the streets, Charles Cole (senior-biology), an attendee and NAACP member, said.

Students marched from Stephens Hall to Pollock Road, Cole said, where they crossed through Nittany Apartments, marched through East Halls, wound their way to West Halls and finished on the stairs of Old Main, duplicating Obama's March 30 rally. During their procession, students chanted "When I say 'O' you say

'bama'!" and banged pots and pans.

"This is where Obama spoke to us about change," Cole said, waving an American flag, his words tumbling out quickly. "I want to tell my sons and my daughters and my grandchildren -- he told us about change, and he made it happen."

Amid the throng of students on the stairs and draped in an American flag, Mike Cappellini (sophomore-political science) shouted hoarsely to the crowd.

"He's been called a communist ... but what he is is a leader," Cappellini said. "He is a leader, and he's going to bring the United States back to the top."

"Yes we can!" answered the crowd. "Yes we did!"

Wearing a "Listen to Barack" shirt and holding a bottle of sparkling cider, Michael Mack (junior-management information systems) reveled in the scene on the porch of Old Main.

"Someone that looks like me is in the White House," said Mack, who is black. "Penn State is mostly white, and it's great to see everyone come out here for Barack."

Sporting a Frisbee-size Obama sticker on her shirt, Faith Harris (junior-forensic chemistry) called the march a "monument."

"It's so amazing to see the camaraderie of Penn State students coming together," she said.