Some Inauguration Visitors Feel Misled

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Those of you who are commenting on this, know this...there were more than 5000 college students who attended this sham, me being one. I am not stupid, I am not ignorant, and I am not illiterate; neither were the other 5000 students. The info received by me said that we would be attending the inauguration and the inaugural ball and required professional attire and black tie attire for each, respectively. It was not until we arrived in Washington, D.C. that we noticed it had changed. We were no longer required to wear professional attire for the inauguration and were told we could wear professional instead of black tie to the ball. In other words, they had rescinded on what had been previously been made known to us. Now I did not get to meet all 5000 students that attended this, but the ones that I did speak with (I'm guessing around 75-100) voiced the same issues I had, which are much longer than what was written above. And as for the snide comment about who is getting inaugurated in 2009, I, along with countless others, accepted this invitation over a year ago, long before President Obama or John McCain were the Presidential candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. We did not know we would be witnessing history. We all had been affiliated with CYLC for quite some time and were pleased with their other conferences which we had attended. This was a lie and failure on their part. Your understanding and encouragement would be greatly appreciated; your disdain and incredulity are not needed. Thank you.

Jamie of TX 2:02AM January 23, 2009

to see how many felt misled... (UPIC groups)

disappointed of IL 11:49PM January 22, 2009

The site definitely states "Private access to the Smithsonian Museum on the National Mall" which we did not get. I left at 3am and did not make it past security. Not worth the money that was paid

misledstudent of MA 8:12PM January 22, 2009

We were told we'd have tickets and that we'd be going to an inaugural presidential gala. We did neither. We fought for standing room miles away and went to a "high school dance" type event. It was a rip off, and I want my money back.

Jessica of NJ 7:12PM January 22, 2009

I attended the conference and I did my homework beforehand and NEVER felt misled. I am grateful to have been present in DC at that historic time and honored to have had the opportunity to see so many inspiring figures. I hope these other students will grow to appreciate this experience. The things I heard some of them compaining about were nothing less than absurd ("The dance floor is to small" (i.e. the dance floor at the SMITHSONIAN), etc. It was embarrassing and so I hope the conference refrains from inviting these people and sticks with those of us who understand how momentous an opportunity this really was.

Mb of 6:32PM January 22, 2009

I was at the same conference that Caitlin was in. The article forgot to mention that we stayed in 4 star hotels in DC, were fed breakfast/lunch everyday, and that Colin Powell also came and talked to us. I had a great time at this conference.

of TN 1:42PM January 22, 2009

Really misleading it was.

Ryan of MD 1:40PM January 22, 2009

In the mailings they sent out, they did. THe online stuff was put up well after the initial mailings

of IL 1:15PM January 22, 2009

The conference never did promise an official inaugural ball, however they did promise "Inaugural Scholars will directly participate in the pageantry and ceremony of the inauguration of the president and vice president and witness firsthand the hallmark of democracy in action with the peaceful transition of power to the 44th president of the United States." (Directly is the key word here.) "The Conference is comprised of exclusive and private inaugural events and activities featuring world-renowned keynote speakers and political experts, as well as public ceremonial events, such as the official swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parade, as the President and Vice President and their families proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue from the United States Capitol Building to the White House." My daughter and her friends watched everything on television after traveling through the subway system of DC for 4 hours. My daughter loved hearing Luke Russert, Al Gore and Colin Powell speak...and was in DC when history was made. She was not able to directly participate however in the swearing in of the 44th president, nor was she able to view the parade directly.

Jody Bradley of FL 11:27AM January 22, 2009

I was one of the students at this event. First of all some of you people are ridiculous. This isn't about your personal political opinions, and that has absolutely nothing to do with this. So take it somewhere else. Furthermore, this wasn't a case of idiot students feeling "entitled" because that's "just our generation." That is such an idiotic statement to those of us that were at this conference.
I, like most of the 5,000 people (many of whom were adult students in their 40's and 50's) contacted UPIC when I received the invitation. I was told that we would be an "intimate" group of less than 1,000. After Obama was elected, they opened it up for 4,000 more, unbeknownst to us. I was assured that we would have a reserved place to view the Oath of Office, the parade, and then attend an actual inaugural ball. It was only when we arrived that we learned what was really going on. Up to that point, they were calling it "The Black-Tie Inaugural Ball" on the website.
Enough already with the judgement. Unless you were there, you have no idea what it was like. Unless you enjoy fighting 5,000 people for a boxed lunch everyday? We had injuries and panic attacks in our group because they were constantly trying to cram all of us into tight spaces, having us stand outside in freezing temperatures to wait for buses, not even bothering to answer the emergency phone number when there were actual emergencies. Unless you were there, so have no idea and have no right to judge us. It wasn't just kids caught up in this, parents were believing it too, including a congressman whose son was there.

Jennifer Scholl of OH 10:46AM January 22, 2009