Local radio station airs inauguration reports from Oakland student

By Amanda Benjamin, student writer

When the WDVD 96.3-FM morning show sounded on Allison Pritchard’s alarm clock on Friday, Jan. 16, she heard an announcer asking if any listeners were going to Washington D.C. for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Pritchard, a junior majoring in environmental science major, called the radio station and told them she was going through OU. That’s when Blaine Fowler, one of the radio personalities, asked Pritchard to be the station’s official correspondent.

Later that day, Pritchard recorded a promotion that ran over the weekend. She was then on the air at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Tuesday, and gave a recap of the event at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

“The best thing about the trip was being there,” Pritchard said. “Being a part of history, basically.”

Pritchard saw OU’s planned trip to Washington D.C. advertised in the Oakland Post. The buses had filled up right away, however, and she was put on a waiting list before another bus was added.

The morning of the inauguration was stressful, according to Pritchard. “We were freaking out. We thought we were going to miss it.”

A train they had boarded got stopped for about 20 minutes in a tunnel because of an accident at the Washington D.C. Metro and they were already running two hours late.

After an eventful morning, the OU students stationed themselves to the left of the Washington monument to watch the inauguration. “I’ve never seen so many people in my life,” Pritchard said.

When Obama came out, Pritchard recalls how everyone was excited and screaming.

“Everyone we ran into there was so nice,” Pritchard said. “The whole feel of the crowd was optimistic.”