It was an inauguration party like no other.

Hundreds of students, staff and community members flocked to Green River Community College to celebrate the historic presidential inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday morning.

“It was great, it was emotional,” said Samantha Fletcher, the college’s student body president, who joined others at a packed Lindbloom Center to grab a front row seat of the live, televised ceremony from Washington, D.C. “There was plenty of crying. So many people were excited. You could really see it in the crowd. Everybody could not believe this was happening. And when it actually happened, they were so glad that it did. It was a perfect time for it.”

Obama took the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States, proclaiming a “moment that will define a generation,” while vowing to help America meet the challenges of two wars and a massive economic downturn.

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America,” he said in an inaugural speech that lasted approximately 20 minutes.

Thousands of people poured into the nation’s Capitol to watch Obama cap his ground-breaking campaign.

At GRCC, the response was overwhelming. Event organizers were expecting 400 people, but that number was surpassed, Fletcher estimated.

For Fletcher, the event was moving, everything she thought it would be.

“It was awe-inspiring,” said Fletcher, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice. “I was just staring at the screen and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really happening to me.’

“The lady next to me was African-American, and I really felt for her. This was a moment that she could really accept, something that was happening now.”

That lady was V. Tina Christian, an academic advisor at the college.

The local celebration at the Lindbloom Center was joined by Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis, who provided a keynote address prior to the inauguration.

Guests were treated to breakfast, multicultural dancing and other activities to highlight the dreams of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and to celebrate the political system of the United States.

The event, sponsored by the President’s Commission on Diversity, was held in collaboration with Student Services, Diversity Services, Multicultural Equity Council, Community, Leadership, Education, and Outreach, Student Senate, GRCC instruction and the City of Auburn.