From an off-campus house party to a Ball State University residence hall to a hotel in Indianapolis, high-decibel celebrations marked the election of Barack Obama late Tuesday.
Screams of joy rattled the walls of Park Hall when the victory was announced on TV.
More than 50 miles away in Indianapolis, a crowd at the Marriott Hotel joined in the jubilation.
The Illinois senator clinched the Oval Office as the nation's first black president. Republican candidate John McCain conceded as polls closed along the West Coast, adding to what had already been a domination of the electoral college for Obama.
"There's just lots of excitement right now," said Frank Hood, president of Ball State's Student Government Association. "Everyone was screaming. I think everyone has been energized."
At the Delaware County Democratic headquarters' political rally in downtown Muncie, partygoers also cheered Obama, even state Sen. Sue Errington, who originally considered herself a "Hillary Democrat."
"I think [with Obama] we've got someone who can bring the country together," Errington said. "He's a uniting person, and his organizational skills will help him in office."
Carly Acree, a sophomore journalism major at Ball State, said McCain would have been a continuation of George W. Bush's presidency.
"McCain has voiced that he's agreed with a lot of the things Bush has," Acree said. "Now I'm starting to get more into the economy, and [after seeing] what's been happening, I think that there should be a change. I definitely couldn't live the next four years like we've lived the last, so I'm eager to see what Obama says he has to offer and what he's going to change."
At the rally for Jill Long Thompson, the Democratic candidate for governor, rally goers were elated by the thought that a Democrat was going to replace Bush.
Brian Risse, an 1984 graduate of Ball State who attended Long Thompson's rally, said he was glad to have a Democrat in the White House again.
"For me, it's just good not to have Bush as president," Risse said. "To have Bush out of the game and have his crew out of there is good enough for me."
At Gov. Mitch Daniels' victory rally at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, attendees were skeptical about Obama taking office.
Ted Cotterill, a senior political science major at Ball State who attended Daniels' rally, said Democrats need to deliver on their promises.
"There needs to be a lot of improvement seen coming from their side in the next four years," he said. "Otherwise voters may feel upset and may turn back the other way after four years."
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