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WASHINGTON, Nov 4 — Kamala Harris will watch Tuesday’s election night from her campus. 

Howard University — her alma mater — a fitting place for possibly the most significant night of her life. Nicknamed “Black Harvard,” this Washington  Uni occupies a central role for US vice president’s biography: Since graduating there in 1986, she frequently returned to key moments. “Howard University: one of most important aspects of my life,” in 2019 as a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries, “where I first ran for my first elected office,” as a student council representative.

“So this is where it all began.” ...Her presence there Tuesday night — when Harris could become the first Black woman to be elected US president — is thus deeply symbolic. US Congress founded Howard in 1867, 2 years after Civil War put an end to slavery in mostly Southern states where it remained legal. The school took its name from Oliver Howard, a Northerner known as “the Christian general” who had promoted higher education for freed slaves.

Howard  or ‘Black Harvard’ where Kamala Harris will await US election results?. Vice President Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Michigan State U Jenison Field House East Lansing at Michigan, “Howard University is a important Uni of my life,” she said in 2019 as a candidate for Democratic presidential primaries, she ran for first elected office,” as a student council representative.

“US Congress founded Howard in 1867, 2 years after Civil War had put an end to slavery in the mostly Southern states where it remained legal. School took its name from Oliver Howard, a Northerner known as “the Christian general” had promoted higher education for freeslaves.Howard built a reputation as one of best of roughly 100 institutions known as Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), which draw mostly Black and minority students.

The campus of Howard, which has around 11,000 students, features several imposing red-brick buildings with traditional white columns arrayed around a large central lawn commonly known as The Yard. It was in an amphitheatre there that, in mid-August, Kamala Harris prepared for her lone debate against Republican rival Donald Trump – telling students that someday, “you might be running for president of the United States.”

A Celebrity graduates...Among Howard’s most illustrious graduates have a author & Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, famed civil rights leader Thurgood Marshall, who in 1967 became first Black justice appointed to US Supreme Court, was Marshall’s eg: Harris later said, inspired future lawyer to choose Howard for her university studies in 1982, joined debate club, & took part in anti-apartheid demonstrations. She also joined Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), one of the nation’s largest sororities, founded at Howard in 1908, its national membership of some 300,000 has given Harris a far-reaching network of activist supporters. — AFP

This was always a challenging race for Vice President Kamala Harris. She started late, and ran against a tough opponent in a bleak environment. 

She faced an electorate hungry for change, upset with the direction of the country and the economy.


If she wins, she will be able to credit a handful of factors that helped her fight those headwinds and defeat former President Donald J. Trump.

Here is what analysts will be saying should Ms. Harris win. (And here is the same thought experiment on a Trump victory.)....