Their motivations for traveling to Washington, D.C., are different. 

Curiosity. A class. Marching for a cause. Witnessing history in the making. Regardless of their convictions, a variety of Elon University students are planning to be in Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Jan. 20, and for The Women’s March on Washington Jan. 21. 

Scores of people, these students included, have said that the inauguration is more than a just a historic day, but a stepping stone towards an uncertain future, too.

Sophomore Evan Sassaman and senior Nicole Baugh will be at the inauguration as part of an experiential learning course, “Experiencing D.C.,” taught by political science professors Betty Morgan, Joel Shelton and John Strange. 

Sassaman chose to take this course partially because of its correlation with the inauguration. “There’s going to be no other time in my life when I can do something like this,” he said.

Sassaman said he is looking forward to the ceremony and is particularly excited to hear Trump’s first speech as commander-in-chief.

“Thus far, I have not been impressed with his Twitter account and his way of public speaking through that, so I would really like to hear what he has to say and what kind of tone and message he’s going to set for the people as he is inaugurated,” Sassaman said.

Baugh said she is taking this course because she is required to as a Teaching Fellow and is less enthusiastic than Sassaman about the upcoming event.

“For us, it’s required for our class that we attend, but I know for me — and a lot of other people have said this, people in our class — if we weren’t required to go, we wouldn’t,” she said. “Not necessarily because we’re so against the administration, but simply because there’s so much negativity surrounding it.”

Sassaman recognized the negativity too. He said that as a Republican, he is not especially fond of Trump but remains optimistic about the future.

“I know other people have taken the mindset of ‘not my president’ … My thought process on that is ‘it’s happened,’” he said. “I really hope he does well just for the sake of this country. … As of right now, obviously, there’s a lot of controversy.”

Those who are upset, Sassaman said, should “continue to let it be known we expect certain things as people and as United States citizens and basically let our expectations be known.”

A number of rallies and protests have been planned to take place the day of Trump’s inauguration and the following Saturday by pro-Trump and anti-Trump organizations.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO.) told Fox News the city could see as many as 750,000 demonstrators.

D.C. Council member Charles Allen told The Washington Post that as of Jan. 12, 1,200 buses had applied for parking permits in the District for the Women’s March on Washington rally taking place Saturday. This figure dwarfs the mere 200 buses which had, as of that time, applied for parking on Inauguration Day. 

In the crowd will be a number of Elon students including junior Annie Skeadas, who heard about the event through Facebook on the day after the election.

“It’s not a protest against the inauguration or anything but it’s a march that’s bringing together women from all over the country,” she said. “It’s more of a standing together in solidarity kind of thing — to show support for each other and showing that it’s important to stand together as women during times that we’re nervous about rights being taken away or nervous just in general about where our country is headed.”

Freshman Megan Siepka will be another face in the crowd, and she, like Skeadas, said she is looking forward to meeting and marching with like-minded individuals. 

“I’m very excited – very anticipatory right now,” she said. “I’ve never been a part of something to do something about how I feel and what I believe in.” 

Siepka said she could not just sit back and watch this march take place from afar.

“When I first heard about the march, I was very moved — just a whole group of women and other individuals getting together to stand up for what they believe in, their individual rights — and I was like, ‘Wow! That seems like a really cool thing to do,’” she said.

According to the Women’s March on Washington Eventbrite page, their event “will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights.”

Siepka said she recognizes that while some might turn a blind eye towards the march, the event will be empowering for those who participate. She said she sees the event as an opportunity to remind the new administration that “women have voices and we as Americans have voices.”

More than 10,000 individuals have said they will attend on the Women’s March on Washington Facebook page and even more have registered to attend through their Eventbrite page and website, www.womensmarch.com.

Among the women traveling across the country for this march will be a number of celebrities, including Amy Schumer, Padma Lakshmi, Katy Perry, Chloe Grace Moretz and Uzo Aduba, to name just a few.

Skeadas, who is attending the rally with a small group of friends from Elon, is anxious to see how many people will show up and what kind of people they will be.

“It is going to be kind of a nerve-wracking time to be in D.C. because there are going to be millions of people in the city at that time with all different views and opinions,” she said.