Kamala Harris will spend election night at Howard University, her alma mater and a historically black university in Washington DC.

The Democratic presidential candidate graduated from Howard in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics.

She has maintained close ties with the school and often describes her four years there as the most formative of her life.

Howard’s president, Ben Vinson III, said it was the first time in modern history that a college campus had hosted a presidential election watch party.

Mr. Vinson said the university was already “incredibly proud” that the first woman of color to serve as vice president was one of its alumni.

“We are also honored that she chose Howard as the place to potentially make history again.”

Classes were canceled Tuesday to give students the best chance to vote.

Supporters of Harris gathered outside the school before the watch party began.

Among them was Cheryl Taylor, the Howard alum who tapped Harris as a freshman to join Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first black sorority, which was founded at Howard in 1908.

Members of AKA and other Black sororities form a tight-knit national network that helped boost Harris’ presidential bids this year and in 2019.

Even at 19, Ms. Taylor told the BBC, Harris stood out as a leader.

“She was amazing. Beautiful, smart, a good person,” she said.

Mrs. Taylor was touched by Harris’ decision to have a watch party at Howard. She said it was a recognition of the importance of the school in her journey and the place that showed her the power of “black excellence.”

And she shrugged off attacks aimed at Harris’ racial identity, including those from Donald Trump, who questioned her blackness.

“We have no doubt about that here,” she said.

“To have one of our fellow Howardites rise to this level, and also to be a woman, is overwhelming.” she added. “I’m so glad I’m here tonight.”

First-time voter and freshman Kendall Claytor was waiting to enter with her friends, who described Harris as a role model.

“As a black woman, I really look up to her,” she said.

“You know, knowing that she came from the same place, like she slept in the same dorms as me, she went to the same school, same classes and she’s able to come this far. I think it speaks volumes to us as students .”

William Ward, 65, played music from the back of his bicycle for the crowd.

“I’ll be 66 in December. I want to see history. I saw the Obamas go in, and that’s history. And now I’m going to see a woman go in.”

Founded in 1867 and nicknamed The Mecca, Howard is one of the largest and most academically rigorous historically black universities in the country.

It produces more black PhD recipients than any other university in the country and currently serves approximately 11,000 students.

Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael and actor Chadwick Boseman are also among the alumni.

In her memoir The Truths We Hold, Harris described it as a place “you could come as you were and leave as the person you wanted to be”.