Personal reaction:
“”This has been almost a decade. It shows the commitment our country had. It shows the strength and dedication of our country and armed forces. We all owe a huge thanks to our troops.””
Reaction to media coverage:
“”The coverage overall shows the unity of our country. We’ve all come together.””
Reaction to campus/students:
“”I think everyone is so emotionally impacted by it. It shows the strength of the country. Everyone is rallying around it.””
– Elma Delic
Personal reaction:
“”I think that, as the president said, it was a big moment. It can’t take back the loss people experienced 10 years ago but is a form of redemption that the person who was, in some ways, most responsible was put to justice, I guess you could say.””
Reaction to campus/students:
“”I was on campus and could hear a fraternity house singing karaoke to American songs. There were people running down the street with flags. It’s always nice to see the few events that can unite us in patriotism. I also respect the feelings of some students that it’s strange or even inappropriate to celebrate death. I think it’s a sense of redemption for what happened in the past.””
– Emily Fritze
Personal reaction:
“”Of course I think if there’s any death to be celebrated I guess this is the one, but it’s still come at a huge cost to our nation over the last 10 years. I don’t really feel that it was worth it at all, and I think it is a fake victory.””
Reaction on campus/student:
“”There’s a lot of ‘Yes, this is really good and I hope it brings peace to the families of those affected, but what does it really mean to the U.S.?’ There’s just kind of this realization that we may have stirred the hornet’s nest a little bit.””
– Emily Connally
Student reactions:
When he heard the news, Chad Middleton, a junior studying public administration and business was working at Sullivan’s Steakhouse and he noted that he was probably the loudest.
“”All of the guests heard me. … We all did a cheers to America,”” Middleton said. “”I am Republican and I think Obama did a good job,”” Middleton said. “”I’m not a big fan of Obama, but I’m pretty proud of him.””
“”It’s a symbolic victory that’s definitely going to improve our morale and lessen al-Qaida’s but I’m not sure how important it is strategically in the battle against them,”” said Tijana Nikolich-Zugich, a pre-phsyiology sophomore.
“”I found out about bin Laden’s death on Facebook through the news feed but at first I didn’t believe it. People tend to post fake information all the time. But when I saw it in the news, I thought it was a great for the Obama administration,”” said Elisabeth Trujillo, a creative writing junior.