Amy Cheng

Twelve years ago, JD Vance LAW ’13 roamed Yale’s halls as a law student. On Monday morning, students across Yale’s campus watched as he was inaugurated as the next Vice President of the United States.

The second inauguration of President Donald Trump took place in Washington inside the Capitol Rotunda due to extreme weather conditions. Trump and Vance were sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh ’87 LAW ’90, respectively. In his inaugural address, Trump outlined a far-reaching agenda, which included deploying troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, reinstating unvaccinated service members and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America.”

“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” Trump preached in the opening of his inaugural address.

Yale Votes: A Student Initiative, a non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing voter turnout on Yale’s campus, hosted an inauguration watch party in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, attended by about 50 students.

Giuseppe DiMassa ’28, the watch party attendee who previously also watched the presidential and vice presidential debates with Yale Votes, described the inauguration as “the natural culmination of what’s been a pretty long and fraught and divisive election season.”

Students at the event were relatively subdued, but few in the crowd cheered at various points of the ceremony, and many more booed or laughed during parts of Trump’s inaugural address.

In particular, Trump’s statement of acknowledgment that his inauguration coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, “We will strive to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true,” brought laughs as the cameras panned to President Joe Biden, who seated behind Trump, could be seen showing what could be described as a sly smirk of bemusement. 

Several students also laughed at Trump’s views surrounding American expansion, including his promises of American ownership of the Panama Canal and vow to send American astronauts to “plant the American flag on Mars.” 

“He’s trying to use the language of manifest destiny, the age-old language of American imperialism, as a way to describe progress. To me, it was kind of laughable,” said Richard George ’27. “Ultimately, even though it will seem fanciful, it gestures to more serious politics that is strictly about violence and oppression.” 

Lorenzo Chamberlin ’28 told the News that he attended the Yale Votes inauguration event because he “wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth.” 

Although Chamberlin believes watching the inauguration is important, he also noted that statements by politicians, particularly at an inauguration, do not totally reflect what elected officials ultimately execute in office.

Alex Moore ’26, who was also at the Yale Votes watch party, told the News that he was amazed at seeing “the American oligarchy line up behind Trump,” referring to Trump’s cabinet picks and the billionaires in attendance, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, who oversees Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X. 

While bouts of laughter and quips of conversations defined the YaleVotes inauguration watch party, the Yale College Democrats held an event of “collective reflection,” which Christian Thomas ’26, the club’s president, said was “definitely not a watch party.”

While Thomas noted that some members had live streams of the inauguration pulled up on their computers to keep track of events in Washington, the event was ultimately a way for members of Yale Dems to come together and be around like-minded people during the inauguration.

“We don’t know what the next four years is going to bring with Trump in office, but we do know that we remain committed to our progressive values and to collective organizing,” said Thomas. “And so, we want to just create this space to ensure that our members feel like they can talk about things in a safe community.”

As Trump preached his agenda for the upcoming administration, Yale Dems discussed his immigration policies and ways to take action in the coming four years.

Jack Dozier ’27, communications director of Yale Dems, told the News on behalf of the group that the community space was also intended to discuss whatever was on students’ minds in an “off-the-record fashion.”

“We found cause to be concerned by Trump’s commentary on LGBTQ+ Americans,” said Dozier. “Now, more than ever, it is important to hold open, candid conversations like these on the state of our democracy and to hold our elected officials accountable.”

While concerns were voiced at Yale Votes and Yale Dems events, Yale College Republicans President Manu Anpalagan ’26 wrote to the News that he is excited for a “new era of common sense conservative leadership.”

Anpalagan cited Trump’s policies regarding the regulation of the Southern border and his foreign policy agenda as particularly exciting and added that he is “extremely overjoyed” at the prospect of Vance and Usha Vance ’07 LAW ’13 becoming the vice president and second lady, as he sees himself in them.

“The kid from rural Appalachia who grew up in poverty and the daughter of immigrants who came to America in hopes of a better future are now at the forefront of our new government,” Anpalagan said. “While this is certainly a Yale success story that we should all be proud of given our shared collegiate experience with the Vances, it is more importantly an American success story and a testament to our values.”

Vance is the fourth U.S. Vice President to graduate from Yale, joining the ranks of former Vice Presidents George H.W. Bush ’48, Gerald Ford LAW ’41 and John C. Calhoun, a Yale College graduate of 1804.