A lively scene inside Gamble Auditorium. Its tiered seats are filled with students, many of whom are talking to each other or looking at laptops. In the front of the room is a large whiteboard covered with colorful notes and writing. Small triangular red, white, and blue flags hang along the walls, for the VP Debate. Light filters in from sleek, wall-mounted lamps.
Photo by Jo Elliott ’28
Jo Elliott ’28
Staff Writer
The vice presidential debate watch party, just like last month’s presidential debate watch party, was hosted by the Mount Holyoke College Democrats in collaboration with the Division of Student Life. All community members were invited to the viewing of the debate in Gamble Auditorium. The event was held on Oct. 1 and ran from 9-10:30 p.m. The MHC Democrats provided refreshments for the duration of the viewing.
The MHC Democrats is a student-led organization that hosts politically-based events for students on campus. According to their Embark, their mission is “to promote progressive values and inspire political activism.” Mount Holyoke has been ranked fourth by The Princeton Review for most politically active students. The MHC Democrats aim to uphold the same ideals and values of the Democratic Party and create a space in which Mount Holyoke College students can push the party to be more inclusive of the values of other students.
During the debate, Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota were given a variety of topics to present their positions on. The debate was hosted by CBS News in New York at the CBS Broadcast Center, with moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan. O’Donnell is an anchor for CBS news and the host of Person to Person. Brennan is a substitute anchor for CBS news and chief foreign affairs correspondent. Both were chosen for the position as moderators for the debate because of their extensive and successful journalism careers.
The rules of the debate were similar to the presidential debate; however, there were no opening statements and mics were muted if a candidate spoke over their allotted time. The candidates still ended the debate with closing statements, during which they had two minutes each to give their final remarks. A coin toss was done on Sept. 26, which Vance won. He chose to give his remarks after Walz.
Similarly to the presidential debate, the turnout for the vice presidential debate watch party was plentiful. “We’re really excited, we’re optimistic,” Emma Cranage ’25, president of The MHC Democrats, said prior to the start of the vice presidential debate. “We had an incredible turnout out last time, and I think it was really great to see the student body come together, definitely at a time where there are so many divisive policies.”
“I think the turnout will be good,” Laura Sattler, the director of Student Involvement, said before the watch party began. “We had well over 200 students packed into the Great Room [for the presidential debate] so I am optimistic we’ll have a similar turnout.”
Some students reported feelings of stress and anxiety while watching the debate. “There is a possibility that Counseling Services will be provided at the presidential election watch party,” Rebecca Sandoval ’26, vice president of the MHC College Democrats, said during the night’s opening remarks. Nothing is set in stone yet, but Sandoval stated that something is “in the works.”
“I think [the debate] was a little bit more coherent to follow, given the change of the demeanors of the candidates,” Sandoval said. According to the media outlet Brookings, citizens that were interviewed after the debate expressed that the debate “wasn’t painful to watch and actually stuck to their major issues.”
The results for the debate were tied according to late Tuesday polls such as Focal Data/Politico and YouGov/CBS News that displayed results showing a tie or a slight edge towards Vance. ABC News described the debate as “an unsurprising result in which both candidates had both weak and strong moments.”
Polling taken by CNN/SSRS polled both Harris and Trump supporters that viewed the debate. They found that 82% of Harris supporters thought Walz won, while 90% of Trump supporters thought that Vance won. “I think [Walz] came out with that dad core jokes persona tonight, which I love about him,” Sandoval said.
“We had a good majority come out … estimates were about 130 [viewers] for the night,” Sandoval said. Sandoval added that the turnout gave the Mount Holyoke College Democrats “a lot of hope for our election watch party.”
Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27 contributed fact-checking.