This past Tuesday shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time, the presidential election was called for Senator Barack Obama. By the time all votes had been tallied, the Electoral College count had risen to 364 votes for Sen. Obama compared to just 174 for Sen. McCain. A historic election by any means.

But to many Americans and many members of the Rose-Hulman family, this marked much more than just another election win. The dedicated supporters of Sen. Obama’s campaign on campus shared a common vision of the future and a sincere concern for the outlook of their country.

For that reason, the members of Rose-Hulman Students For Barack Obama started a campus-wide campaign of great proportion. We began our work early this year as the primary season was just getting underway, and we have been working hard ever since.

It has been so much more than just the advancement of our candidate or the promotion of a set of political beliefs. We have spent the past year working to get our fellow students involved in the political process and get them excited about the positive effect they can have on their country.

Since Rose-Hulman Students For Barack Obama was started by the four of us (Jon Ogilvie, Sean Feeney, John Heady, and me, Sid Ullrich) in early January we have had a major impact on our campus.

• We registered more than 350 of our fellow students, both Democrats and Republicans, to vote
• We helped nearly 200 students request absentee ballots from 12 different states
• We provided transportation to the polls for almost 50 students on Election Day
• We got over 275 students, 11 faculty members, and 5 staff members involved with the local volunteer efforts
• We held watch parties, co-hosted with the College Republicans for all of the presidential debates

But, most importantly, we changed the world.

We helped elect a president who refuses to operate under the same old standards of Washington. He’ll spend every day working for what is best for the American people, and will listen to the opinions of those around him, even if he doesn’t agree with them.

With our economy in crisis, our nation at war, and our environment in turmoil, we couldn’t risk four more years of the same policies that have failed again and again.

This election doesn’t represent a victory just for the Democratic Party or the Obama Campaign, but a victory for the American people. When we bring our heroic men and women home from Iraq, we will bring home Republican men and women as well. When we fulfill our obligation to protect the health of children, we’ll keep the children of the red states healthy too. When we reduce our impact on the environment, we’ll make your air safer to breathe too. When we restore our economic strength and create good jobs in America, we will employ liberals and conservatives equally. And even though we view the conservative lifestyle as an unusual way of life, we’ll still let Republicans marry each other.

Change has come to Washington.