The mood in the Harris party is darkening as Democrats' hopes fade

Shortly after midnight, a few hundred feet from where Kamala Harris was scheduled to stand on stage at her election night party at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a handful of students sat huddled together.

They began their evening excited, they said, ready to celebrate the ascension of a Howard alum to the highest office in the United States.

The Democratic presidential candidate had decided to return to her alma mater for the occasion, but later canceled the planned appearance as the mood soured and Trump's victory seemed far from certain.

“I was so excited, like history was being made,” recalled Cori Ross, 20. “No other campus has the future president or at least the current vice president on their campus.”

When the country's first two swing states—Georgia and North Carolina—were slated for Donald Trump, the collective shift in sentiment was evident.

“We're freaking out,” said Ross' fellow student Dru Strand during the “super stressful” experience when the results came in.

The crowd in Howard's Yard, the grassy courtyard at the center of the university, began to thin, and it seemed as if hundreds of people were streaming off campus on this cool fall evening.

Those who stayed seemed to feel the excitement of the hours before, dancing and singing to the music of Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé blaring from speakers in the courtyard.

Just hours earlier, on Tuesday, the mood on Howard's campus had been jubilant, reminiscent of the joy and enthusiasm that characterized the early days of Harris' presidential campaign.

Thousands stood outside under the night sky, ready to celebrate the country's first female president.

Unlike Hillary Clinton, who made gender central to her 2016 campaign, Harris largely avoided discussions about identity and the history-making potential of her campaign.

And yet Tuesday night's choice of venue was laden with symbolism, marking the conclusion of Harris' campaign at Howard University, one of the nation's premier historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Many in the crowd were adorned with Howard merchandise or the regalia of Harris' sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the country's first black fraternity, with the fraternity's bright pink color standing out among the sea of ​​people.

“It means a lot to her that she decided to come home,” said Patrice Williams, an AKA member who attended another HBCU in the country.

After months of polls showing the candidates were virtually undecided, early voting data gave the Harris team reason for optimism: Women — who polls show support Harris by a sizable margin — turned out in record numbers.

And when the early results showed Harris holding a modest lead in the crucial states of Pennsylvania and Michigan, the assembled crowd erupted in excitement, believing the evening was turning in their favor.

But that cautious excitement soon gave way to concern as Harris' path to the White House appeared increasingly unlikely as Trump was blocked by increasing state victories.

“It’s extremely nerve-wracking,” Ross said. “I feel like people don't understand what it's really about. So much could change by the end of the week, we could be living in a completely different nation.”

Others spoke of their fear of another contested election and worries that violence would occur regardless of the outcome.

Howard student and Harris supporter Kimathi Talton, 20, called it a “lose-lose.”

“If Trump wins, that will of course be bad. But even if Kamala wins — God willing — I have no doubt Trump supporters will respond with violence,” he said. “I am very afraid of every outcome.”

When Pennsylvania — perhaps the most important of all swing states — was slated for Trump, Howard's campus was virtually empty. Large projection screens projected a bright blue Harris Walz sign onto a mostly deserted campus.

Kabila Magnum, 31, was one of the few remaining supporters.

Magnum, wearing pink eye makeup to mark her AKA membership, felt the mood change in real time, a sudden deflation in the crowd around her.

“The energy is down,” she said. However, she remained stubbornly optimistic: there were still votes to be counted.

“We're not done yet. It’s not over until it’s done,” she said.