Washington University in St. Louis hosted the second presidential debate Sunday Oct. 9 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The event marked a memorable moment in the city’s history, and many Ladue teachers and alumni took advantage of this unique opportunity to experience the debate in person.

WUSTL utilized a lottery system in order to fairly and randomly distribute tickets to watch the debate live in the university’s Athletic Complex to its student body. 2016 Ladue alumni and WUSTL freshman Jessica Thoelke and Jackie Wong both received one of the 352 debate tickets.

“It was unreal to be able to be given such an opportunity to witness history,” Wong said. “Being able to see the candidates speak in person is so different from watching the presidential election debates on television. You can sense the emotions of the candidates, townspeople and moderators.”

During the debate, the moderators asked the audience not to clap or make noise. However, according to Wong, some of the audience acted disrespectfully.

“Members of the audience who were not WUSTL students were rowdy and loud, even though we were told early on to be quiet,” Wong said.

For Wong, the debate focused too much on the personalities of the candidates. However, she enjoyed watching various news networks work in real time.

“I believe that having good character is very important for any presidential candidate, but it’s a little ridiculous to me that so much time has to be focused on this rather than on the issues,” Wong said. “But the setup was really cool because seated right in front of me were many news stations like CNN and ABS.”

Ladue AP Microeconomics teacher James Goldwasser went to WUSTL’s Alumni and Friends debate watch. While the Alumni and Friends group did not have the chance to be inside the debate hall, they were provided a box dinner and seating to watch the debate on television. And prior to the debate, they discussed various social, political and economic issues they thought would be asked during the debate with a panel of WUSTL professors.

“It amazed me how many people were on campus– not just students, faculty and alumni, but also protestors and reporters,” Goldwasser said. “The debate certainly energized St. Louis and the Washington University campus.”

Thoelke and Wong agree with Goldwasser. Both witnessed how WUSTL’s preparation for the debate rallied students and reminded them of their civic duty to engage in political participation.

“The event took a lot of advanced planning,” Thoelke said. “The media had to set up their stages, security all around campus had to be greatly increased– they even erected a barrier fence– and lots of banners were hung and landscaping changes were made. It reminded me to vote. Every vote matters, and that’s how you make your voice heard.”

In general, both Thoelke and Goldwasser believe the debate went smoothly, thanks in part to WUSTL’s leadership and resources. And for Goldwasser, the WUSTL campus had never seemed so energized.

“It was a perfect fall day and [WUSTL] never looked better,” Goldwasser said. “Everything was postcard perfect.”