Crammed into every seat on their white coach bus, Augustana students and faculty made the 30-hour trip from the Mississippi River to the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington, D.C.
Among them was junior student Caitlin Lebel, who had never been to a protest."I have a feeling it's going to be very tense there, but at the same time, there's going to be a lot of camaraderie among the marchers."
Junior Aaron Hollatz was one of the men who traveled with the group. He says you don't have to be female to march for women's rights.
"Collectively, we are part of a problem, and we can either...do nothing about that or choose to fix it."
When the bus arrived in Washington, the students made their way to a rally just one block from the Capitol Building. From their spot in a crowd of hundreds of thousands, students heard speakers like America Ferrera and activist Gloria Steinem.
After they marched from Independence Avenue to the White House, senior Marina Deligiannis took in her day of sign-carrying and slogan-yelling.
"When you think of marches, you think of violence, which we didn't see any of at all. It was very peaceful."
When the Augustana group arrived back on campus Sunday morning, they were exhausted. But they felt their messages of equality rang loud and clear in the ears of the new government.
