Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States, according to the Associated Press, surpassing 270 electoral college votes with Pennsylvania. 

  Saturday morning, four days after the polls closed, it was announced that former Vice President Biden and Senator Kamala Harris defeated President Trump and Vice President Pence. Biden is projected to win in Arizona, a battleground state, in a close race last Wednesday, the first democratic nominee to claim the state since President Bill Clinton 24 years ago. 

  “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and to come together as a nation,” Biden said. “It’s time for America to unite and to heal.”

  Biden’s supporters on campus demonstrated similar views of productivity and healing.

  “I’m happy. I’m finally happy. I feel that once Biden is inaugurated we can start trying to fix the country piece by piece,” senior Jaeger Lawlor said. “First by helping those suffering from COVID and those suffering from police brutality and racial inequality. It’s going to be an important four years and I feel that there will [be] plenty of unrest until peace can be found, but it will be found.”

  Senator Harris is not only the first female Vice President-elect, but also the first black woman and Asian American. The ability to identify with a woman of color has CHS students feeling encouraged.

  “Seeing someone who looks like me in office will be incredible. I’m overjoyed,” a CHS sophomore said. 

  Harris, like Biden, maintained a determined perspective during the election celebration.

  “We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started,” Harris said. 

  However, Trump and his supporters are not backing down.

  “He’s not president yet. They’re taking the fraudulent votes case to court. People get excited,” a CHS senior said.

  Some Combs students remain neutral, one adding, “I just hope that things get better. No matter who takes office.”

*Student sources requested to remain anonymous out of concern of retaliation on campus.