MU students make the trip to the inauguration

Some members of the MU College Democrats traveled to D.C. for the event.

By Greg Young

Published Jan. 23, 2009

Young Democrats of Missouri President Rick Puig was in Hawaii with his family, with no plans to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

About a week before the Jan. 20 inauguration, he changed his mind.

"I started thinking about my children and all the things that I would be able to tell them," Puig said. "I couldn't imagine telling them that I had the opportunity to get to the inauguration and that I passed on it." So the Saturday before the inauguration he took a redeye flight to St. Louis that arrived at 2 p.m. Puig then drove to Columbia, scrambled to pack, then went to Kansas City the next morning.

After picking up a tuxedo so he could attend some inaugural balls while he was in Washington, he drove back to Columbia and took a bus to Virginia with a group of Obama supporters led by Lyn Williams, a volunteer office manager for Obama in Columbia.

From there, Puig spent the night in Washington, staying at the house of the ambassador to the U.S. from the Chickasaw Nation, four blocks from the Capitol.

After experiencing the inauguration, for which Puig was able to acquire tickets, he was scheduled to drive back to Columbia with some friends the next day. However, continuing his habit of inconsistency on this trip, Puig changed his mind again, calling a travel agent early the next day to book a flight to St. Louis.

While he was on the cab ride to the airport with the prospect of having no ride to St. Louis, Puig's struck gold, as he was able to contact a friend he had in St. Louis, who offered him a ride to Columbia for gas and a dinner.

And so concluded Puig's wild ride.

"It was like the world's largest airport security fiasco where everyone was inexplicably happy," Puig said about the inauguration. "Beyond that, it was truly an incredible experience."

However, several MU College Democrats on the bus had a less chaotic and more well-planned experience at the inauguration.

MU freshman Cassie Dins was on the bus that Puig took to Virginia, with about 50 others. The various Democratic activists stayed in a hotel in Richmond, Va., and bused to Washington, arriving at the nation's capital at 4:30 a.m.

"I think we all went through times were we were like 'why are we doing this?'" Dins said. She said attending the inauguration was worth standing out in the cold for more than nine hours. "It was amazing, I've never been anywhere like that before," said Dins, who had never been to Washington. "It was a great feeling to be witnessing history like that."

MU political science professor Peverill Squire said Obama's inauguration generated more interest than recent ones.

"Clearly this was a watershed event in American history and I think this inauguration generated greater enthusiasm and a greater interest than those in recent history," Squire said.

Meanwhile, the Missouri College Republicans had a decidedly lower key celebration of Obama's inauguration. There was no organized event, and President Jonathan Ratliff watched the event coverage with some friends on his laptop.

Although Ratliff said that the Republicans would be the "honest opposition" to Obama, he acknowledged the historical significance of Obama's inauguration and election.

"This is an amazing occasion in American history," he said.