Bartlett native said White House rally pushed politics aside
Without even changing out of her pajamas, Samantha McGowan grabbed her camera and phone, then dashed off to the White House late Sunday night.
McGowan, a Bartlett native and sophomore at George Washington University in Washington D.C., had been studying for finals inside her sorority house when she read the news of Osama bin Laden's death on Facebook.
“I was like ‘I'm sorry, what? I was taken so off guard,” said McGowan, 20, a Streamwood High School graduate. “Then I saw on Facebook and Twitter that (the news) was blowing up and everyone was heading to the White House, so I called my friend and we started running there.”
McGowan said she and her friend arrived to a crowd of just about 50 people, chanting “USA” and singing the national anthem. And after an hour of rallying, she was stunned to turn around and see Lafayette Park completely filled with people, mostly students and tourists.
Many of them came from nearby Georgetown and American universities, she added.
“It was really great, because everything at George Washington is political, and people always want to know what are your views on every issue,” said McGowan, who majors in international business and marketing. “This was more about being an American. This was the first experience I've had here where politics didn't matter at all.”
Some critics have chastised the reveling crowds, saying they used Sunday's announcement to delight in the violent death of a human being. But McGowan contends nastiness was not the crowd's purpose.
“I honestly think we weren't celebrating death, but this was more a celebration of conquering terrorism, an idea that has permeated our lives for 10 years,” she said. “I truly think we were celebrating our freedom.”
For many younger students at George Washington, it was a benchmark moment, McGowan said. Upperclassmen all share tales of President Obama's inauguration and say the impromptu rally carried a similar feeling of American pride and briefly pushing partisan politics aside.
“I think this was really about community and the sentiment that we are all Americans,” McGowan said. “This was something I will never forget.”