Beginning to End: Students and the Public Join in Historic Event

"She's so excited," said Kiesha Lewis, who was accompanying Grant. "Her 101st birthday is (next month). She called me and said we have to find a way to get down here."

Thousands of UNO students were among the crowd, standing outside and waiting for what many were calling a "once-in-a-lifetime" chance.

"We got an email saying President Obama was going to be speaking on our campus," said freshman Brianna Zimmerman. "We thought (we should go) because we probably won't get to see a president speak ever again.

"This is the biggest event our campus has had. It's cool we can have a president come to our campus and speak," Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman wasn't the only one relishing a chance to take part in the big event at Baxter. Senior Joe Hagerty raced over to get his ticket as soon as he learned that all classes would be cancelled Wednesday.

"I wanted to go because of the history of a president being on campus. I'm not personally a supporter of him but I thought it'd be a great opportunity to see history in the making," Hagerty said.

Papillion school teacher Lisa Martin introduced the President after UNO's Jenna DeWilde and Lindsey Ussery said the Pledge of Allegience and sang the Star Spangled Banner. University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds made remarks highlighting UNO's recent achievements, which include Tuesday's announcement that UNO is home to one of the best online degree programs in the nation.

As soon as President Obama took the stage, the crowd exploded in cheers. The President touched on several topics, kicking it off by mentioning UNO's nationally ranked hockey team. View the full speech here.

After the speech ended, President Obama made his way to Chancellor John Christensen as well as University of Nebraska President Bounds. The Commander in Chief stuck around for 20 minutes after the speech, shaking hands with students and community members before leaving. The crowd soaked in the atmosphere as history was made at UNO.

Two of those students were UNO's Mitchell Laferla and Cody Solma, who said they were thrilled with the chance to see someone who has had a major impact on their formative years in high school and college.

"You’re so used to watching him on TV for the past years, so the opportunity to see him in the flesh at UNO is something I couldn’t pass up,” said Laferla. “Especially being our age, we have only really seen two different active presidents,” Solma added. “We grew up with him in the office.”

Besides being a once-in-a-lifetime event, Hagerty says people will remember the energy in the building.

"It was wild," he said. "As soon as the announcer would say something - even if it wasn't the President - people would erupt."

Hagerty noted how the event shows UNO's leadership and willingness to collaborate with the community to solve problems and the university is attracting national attention.

"For the President to come anywhere, I know whether it's a state or campus, it's a big deal," Hagerty said. "I know he's spoken on Ivy League campuses, and now (he's at UNO). We've switched to [Division I] and he's acknowledging all the degree programs we have, the online, the military friendliness.

It's pretty awesome to have the President come on our campus and recognize all that work that we've done, including community engagement. These advancements we're making are important. It's worth it."

Students comment on the day, in their own words