CONWAY, Ark. (Jan. 20, 2009) – More than 400 Hendrix students, faculty, and staff members, along with others from the Conway community, crowded into two venues on campus to watch the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama Tuesday.
“The Burrow,” a common gathering area for students inside of the college’s student center, was overflowing for the new president’s inauguration, with the event being projected on a large screen. Several students wore pro-Obama t-shirts and cheered throughout the event.
Anticipating a large crowd there, Hendrix also showed the inauguration on a large screen to more than 150 people in Reves Recital Hall.
Hendrix is perhaps the most pro-Obama college campus in Arkansas. Last February, Hendrix students registered to vote on campus overwhelmingly selected President Obama in the Democratic Primary while most of the state selected Hillary Clinton. In all, 76 percent of the Hendrix students voting on campus selected Obama over Clinton, who received 20 percent of the votes.
President Obama won the Hendrix precinct over Republican Sen. John McCain with a similarly wide margin in November.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
(TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF LIBERTY PARKS, the Log Cabin Democrat)
