Recently in Post-Trip Category

As we arrived in Chicago early Wednesday morning, my mind was still racing, and, frankly, a little cloudy after getting only 10-15 hours of shut-eye the entire weekend.

I quickly tried to process everything I had experienced during arguably the most historically significant presidential inauguration to date in our nation's short history.

Then, I simply listed words--both positive and negative--that I thought best captured the essence of inauguration weekend: exhilarating, inspiring, exhausting, frigid, patriotic, politeness, selflessness, jubilant, frustrating, carefree, surreal and proud.

Of course, words are limiting. When we need them the most, they often fail us. And after this weekend especially, I'm reminded that it's the captivating images and electric atmosphere on the Mall that I'll remember the most.

Fittingly, the last picture I took on my camera speaks to the idea that it's the images that can and will instantly transport me back to a time when this country took an incredible and monumental step forward in the right direction.

Hundreds of signs like this one littered the street near H St. and 15th St. Volunteers ecouraged people to write their own messages in the blank space and take them home as a keepsake.

As thousands of pre-selected students arrived in D.C. for the Inaugural celebrations on Saturday, January 17, many believe they were misled by the University Presidential Inaugural Conference (UPIC) to "directly participate in the pageantry and ceremony of the inauguration."

Vera Bowman, 42, a student in DePaul's School of New Learning, was one the of the selected students. In April of 2008, she received an email from the Golden Key International Honour congratulating her on "being accepted to be among the thousands of students" to "witness first-hand the Inauguration of the 44th President of United States" as a result of her affiliation and academic achievement with Golden Key. She was told that 400 other Golden Key students were invited and that 20, the most they ever had from one school, were from DePaul.

"I was so excited when I got my letter," Bowman said two days before leaving for D.C. "I couldn't believe I had been nominated." However, when she found out on Monday that there would be no tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, even after said she had called months before ensuring there would be, Bowman was outraged.

Amongst things mentioned in acceptance letters to "Inaugural Scholars" like Bowman and others, which was also listed on the UPIC's website were:

• "Exclusive and private inaugural events"
• "Activities with world-renowned keynote speakers," including Colin Powell and Al Gore, "and interaction "with White House veterans, press secretaries, political powerhouses, Washington, D.C. insiders, presidential historians, policy makers, documentary film makers and other prominent and sought-after personalities and political experts."
• "Public ceremonial events, such as the official swearing-in ceremony"
• Admittance to the "exclusive Black Tie Gala Inaugural Ball" on Tuesday night.

Another DePaul student, Kaitlyn Schaefer, senior education major, said, "We all kind of felt like we misled by it--we paid tuition for the conference, speakers for the hotel, and a gala which we thought was going to be an official ball."

The UPIC claims that they place the strictest limitations on available space and eligibility. Inaugural scholars, not only had to pay a $2,870 for housing, program materials, and 2 meals a day (for a four day trip, not including airfare), but had meet the academic requirements of select honor societies. Opportunities for fundraising and limited scholarships were available to help some offset the expenses.

Bowman also thought she would be going with an intimate group of people; however students reported numbers of 5,000 students being squeezed into 30 tour buses, which was far more people than the UPIC was prepared to handle. Many students were more upset about what they believe were misleding acceptance letters claiming admission to the "ticketed" seating section.

Frustrated students are currently collaborating through Facebook in groups like "UPIC scam," "Where did our money go!?!" "UPIC 2009-Official Complaint Group" and a group designed for students to post their draft letters to the head of UPIC, newspapers, government officials and President Obama. A part of one letter from Heather O'Conner, a student at Roger Williams University:

"We were never told directly we did not have tickets and many people were still questioning when we were actually being given the tickets up until the day prior to the Inauguration. This was extremely deceitful by the UPIC. Instead, were on our own to find transportation to the event...many of us were left wondering the D.C. streets at 3 in the morning trying to get as close as possible.

It is bad enough that this organization grossly misrepresented what we were actually paying for, that they fraudulently led many people to believe that we were paying a great sum of money in order to reserve a ticket for the Inauguration as well as to 'rub elbows' with the political elite of the government."

Students also reported that they were never asked to turn in their sheets of medical information containing medical problems, insurance and students' emergency contact information, which was stated mandatory to bring with them when they checked in.

On Monday night at their various hotels, students organized petitions to send letters like O'Conners to complain about their treatment. Many have requested a full refund. So far, students claim they have received 500 signatures and expect more.

Before departing for D.C., Bowman said, "I was two years old when MLK was assassinated. I feel like Obama is this generation's King and I want to experience and remember the magnitude of people together feeling inspired." For Bowman, who took out extra loans to pay for what she thought would be the experience of a lifetime, she is left feeling frustrated and disappointed.

Please note this story is still developing as I am waiting to hear back from UPIC and Golden Key reps

As both a participant and journalist, here's what I found most memorable and least memorable about my stay in D.C. during Inauguration festivities.

The Good
5. Role of Twitter: Not only did dannythedemon play a key part in starting this blog (how we made initial contact with the Sun-Times), we gained 400+ followers in just two weeks, including the Washington Post. The Chicago Tribune's ColonelTribune gave us a shoutout. Canada's National Post live-streamed our tweets. And Radio-Canada contacted me to request an interview through Twitter (which led to this story). Besides the media attention, the amount of replies and direct messages we received was overwhelming.
4. Patriotism: The pride and sense of nationalism was a recurrent theme throughout the trip. Red, white and blue was everywhere, and seemingly every local business decorated for the occasion. Flags were on every block and people would often bellow random renditions of patriotic tunes in the streets, like God Bless America.

3. Brunch with Lonnie Bunch: The fact that we were able to set up an interview with the prominent historian and former Chicagoan was one thing, the fact that he invited us into his own home in Northwestern D.C. was something else entirely. He was so kind and very knowledgeable. He didn't have to take the time out of his busy schedule for us. But he did, and the next day he spent some eight hours providing analysis for ABC.
2. Lincoln Memorial Concert: Worth the trip alone. The 2nd biggest event I've ever attended in my life in terms of crowd size, only to Inauguration Day itself. The overall atmosphere was just awesome: chanting, laughing, smiling, and everybody with a camera or cell phone in hand. The list of celebrities didn't hurt, nor did Obama's speech, and the performances were out of this world. I didn't expect this event to be as great as it was.
1. Sense of Community: Everyone who made the trek down D.C. had a common bond immediately and the opportunity to share in the festivities. And people did too, often exchanging stories of travel troubles or exciting encounters with celebrities, striking up conversation with complete strangers. The Swearing-In ceremony topped it all off as shared in the mess getting out of the National Mall and Capitol.

The Bad
5. Wireless/cell access: This could have been a lot worse, of course, but making calls and sending texts wasn't as easy as 1, 2, 3. At peak times, I had to do something five or six times before it went through. Other times, sporadically, I would have no service at all. Fortunately, it turned into nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
4. Not enough grub: One common complaint was that there wasn't enough food to go around. Most restaurants had 1-2 hour waits during lunch or dinner hours. Even McDonald's had huge delays - it took me an hour and 20 minutes to place my order shortly after the Swearing-In Ceremony. There weren't nearly enough vending machines or street stands. But there were plenty of port-a-potties.

3. Overcrowded landmarks: Want to take a stroll to the White House to try snap a few pictures? How about visit the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday night? You can go, as I did, but you're going to spend plenty of time standing around. Long lines were extremely common and nearly impossible to avoid.
2. Blatant disrespect: Fortunately, this was only limited to pockets of the crowd, but some on Inauguration Day poked fun at Dick Cheney upon seeing him and a wheel chair and others booed George W. Bush whenever he was shown on the jumbotron. It just didn't seem the place or the time for any sort of mocking or negativity.
1. Metro Station overload: Emergency and transit officials did their best, but no matter who you are, nobody is going to be able to accommodate for 2 million+ people. The headaches were compounded by the accident involving a 68-year-old woman who fell onto one station's tracks, the bitter cold air, and the fact people grew tired of standing, standing and more standing.