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Both Sides Show Up at Penn State Protest

UNIVERSITY PARK — Students at many universities across the country continued protests of the presidential election by holding walkouts. It’s called ...

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Students at many universities across the country continued protests of the presidential election by holding walkouts.

It's called the "Not My President Walk-Out Protest" and colleges and universities across the country took part. While the walk was held to protest Donald Trump, the rally at Penn State University also brought out several Trump supporters.

The area in front of Old Main at Penn State University was filled with students holding signs and chanting. The students were part of a protest at college campuses nationwide.

There were close to 1,000 Donald Trump protesters, but there were also about a dozen Trump supporters, including Kylie Thomas.

"My shirt says 'adorable deplorable' and it has a heart with the American flag in it," Thomas said.

It was a peaceful protest with readings, chants, songs, and poems.

"They're free to express themselves in whatever way they want, but I believe all of this is senseless. I wanted to come out to express that not everyone thinks the way they do," said sophomore Kevin Fenchak.

The Trump supporters listened and held up signs.

"Trump is our president and we're here to unite people, not divide people like this rally is doing," said freshman Tyler Boob.

"Honestly, I think it's a joke, this 'not my president' thing," said Fenchak. "He was elected. He was elected democratically. He won by a huge margin and just because they don't want to accept it, it doesn't mean they have a valid point."

But those students were in the minority as most of the protesters were there to support Hillary Clinton.

"I am bisexual, so I am a minority, so I feel like never ever in the history of any election has any minority group come together like this," said freshman Anna Klena.

"We don't agree with the results and we don't think Trump is the man who should be president," said freshman Matthew Wasikonis.

"It's nice to see a bunch of people here coming together for what they believe in. It's very peaceful, which is what it should be," said senior Nicole Schaefer.

So what do these students hope to accomplish? Was the protest to make a statement or make a difference?

"Maybe our voices can be heard by the Electoral College because we are in a swing state. It's still possible that it can still swing to blue with the Electoral College," said senior Bryan Puskas.

"I hope that consideration of public opinion comes into play when making decisions that are going to be very prominent in the next couple of months," Schaefer added.

The Trump supporters who attended the rally were quiet but wanted to get their message out.

"I'm just here to watch the protest go on, just want to see how it goes, not really support my fellow Penn Staters, but just see how everything goes," said Thomas. "Donald Trump is the president-elect so no matter what they do, nothing's going to change that."

We need to come together and rally behind our president and make America great again," Boob added.

The protest at Penn State University lasted about an hour.

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