SCRANTON, Pa. — At the University of Scranton, students from both sides of the political aisle are putting aside their differences and coming together to watch the presidential debate as a unified student body.
"Sure, we might have different opinions, but that's not what matters. We have to get together as a community; we need to understand what's going on in our elections so we can make educated answers," said Carson Bushta, Political Science Club Vice President.
"It's really important to me to work across the aisle, especially in a year like this where it's so combative, almost like you need to be able to have conversations with people, talk to people, especially those who are unaffiliated right now," said Brigid Carlin, College Democrats President.
Although politics is especially divisive in a swing state like Pennsylvania, organizers of the event believe students can put aside any tensions from the performance of their candidate in the debate.
"I am concerned that there might be tensions, but I think that events like this where we're really coming together as a university community help to show that we're all americans at the end of the day," said Therese Shimkus, College Republicans President.
"It's not necessarily about winning or losing, I want both candidates to do well because it's really more so for the country at this point. So I really do hope people get into it and cheer tonight," said Bushta.
Some students who haven't decided which candidate they're going to vote for came to the event to hear from their peers from both sides of the political spectrum.
"When you are just by yourself, you don't really get to hear what the other side is saying, sure you're hearing the talking point from the presidents but you don't get to hear what other people think about it and I think that that's very important when it comes to deciding who you're going to vote for," said John Jaeger, University of Scranton Sophomore.
"I just like to be around other people and hearing what they have to say about it because then not only are you hearing about what the politicians are saying about their own opinions but you get to hear what other people think about what the opinions are," said Jacob Dawson, University of Scranton Sophomore.
Students had mixed reactions to the debate, with some feeling like Kamala Harris had won and others feeling like both Trump and Harris performed equally well.
They all now look forward to Election Day.