{shortcode-ba7dd1157bc2f2ab43f16d0bb4d7e49053121c64}

The 2024 election is over, but for student organizers, the fight is just beginning.

Until Election Day, we ran Harvard for Harris, the student group organizing for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on campus. The outpouring of enthusiasm and effort we witnessed over the last three months has been remarkable. Now, we write to say that that energy cannot end here — indeed, that it’s never been more important.

No matter how much this loss pains us, the rights of millions still remain in jeopardy — and are still worth fighting for, no matter how steep the climb. Countless families lack the healthcare they need, millions now confront the prospect of deportation, and women across the nation fear a national ban on their reproductive freedoms. The bitter pain that comes from these truths will only grow deeper if not met with action.

To respond, we must first consider what worked in this election.

Students across Harvard — like campuses nationwide — mobilized like never before, and found both place and purpose in the cause of this campaign. Over the course of only 107 days, we engaged hundreds of students on this campus and throughout the Boston area in defending democracy.

We phone-banked thousands of voters and knocked more than 10,000 doors across five different swing states, proving that a blue campus at the heart of a blue state can still make an impact.

Over the past three months, our group hit the campaign trail, from Dearborn to Scranton and from Maine’s second district down to the collar counties of Atlanta. Our membership turned strategy into practice, words into action. Day by day and door by door, we realized our vision for Harvard as a place for people who don’t just talk about change but make it.

Every one of us, each for our own unique reasons and bearing our own hopes for America, fought in this battle until the end. We did so for our friends and our families — for the future of democracy and freedom itself. We fought like our very existence depended on it, because for many on our team and across this campus, it does.

We devoted countless sleepless nights to that cause. We forfeited our academic and social lives and put professional prospects on the backburner. We woke up each morning in a new swing state, weary and overstretched and still reeling from the last canvassing trip, and we kept going.

We did everything we could, but we lost.

That’s the hard truth. At moments like these — when you’ve given it your all and still find yourself knocked down — it’s easy to slip into apathy. But now must come the hard work.

Organize. Champion the causes you believe in. The struggle for our rights will shift to states under Republican governance; meet the power where it’s at. Get involved in state and local campaigns — focus your energies on state legislatures, school boards, and ballot measures. Gear up for midterms in 2026 — go home to your congressional district in due time, join a campaign early, find a candidate that cares about what you care about. Lend them your time and heart. And, hell yes, get back up for 2028.

These next four years will bring hardship — not just for those who fought and lost, but the nation writ large. It won’t be easy for anyone. America will see unstable and irresponsible leadership; we will see retribution and hate from the nation’s highest office; we may see families broken up, alliances shattered, minorities disenfranchised, institutions dismantled, women stripped of their reproductive rights, and the environment set ablaze.

For the very survival of this nation and for the freedoms of our loved ones, this election demands that we keep fighting the good fight. As Vice President Harris affirmed in her concession speech: “The fight for our country is always worth it.” No matter how grim the hour.

Donald Trump is our president for the next four years. It is on each of us to feel that loss today, learn from it, and rebuild tomorrow. We have no other choice.

Ethan C. Kelly ’25 is a Government concentrator in Leverett House and a co-president of Harvard for Harris. Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Government concentrator in Winthrop House and an executive at Harvard for Harris. Will M. Smialek ’27 is a Government concentrator in Adams House and a co-president of Harvard for Harris.