“It is morning again in America.” That was the opening line of a 1984 television ad for Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. It’s also the exclamation of the president of the Harvard Republican Club, Michael Oved, on the dawn of President Trump’s “historic comeback” to the White House as America’s 47th president-elect. 

“It’s now time for us all to come together, unite around our new President, and tackle the issues that face our country,” Mr. Oved, a Harvard senior, tells The New York Sun.

This cheer is echoing across college Republican clubs. “Our sweeping victory on November 5th shows clearly that young Republicans want an America First administration and that they’ll turn out en masse to get it,” the communications director, Dominick Buehler, of the College Republicans of America, tells the Sun. When the organization endorsed Trump in January, none of its 150 chapters objected, he says, and membership has grown to 3,500 from 2,500 since August. 

The enthusiasm of young conservatives at historically liberal universities reflects Trump’s powerful performance with young voters, particularly men younger than 30, in the 2024 election. Student political groups reported hours-long voting lines on campuses across the country, as young Americans cast more votes than expected — and many for the party they’ve traditionally shunned.

In the state of Pennsylvania, 56 percent of men younger than 30 voted for Trump, while 38 percent of men younger than 30 voted for Ms. Harris, according to CBS News exit polls. President Biden won this group in this state by nine points. Nationally, NBC News exit polls find that Trump earned 42 percent of voters aged between 18 and 29 in this election, compared to 36 percent in both 2020 and 2016.

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris and the Democratic Party at large lost some support among young voters whose approval they had seemingly taken for granted. While Ms. Harris made inroads with older voters who traditionally lean Republican, she only saw a 13-point lead among the younger group, down from Mr. Biden’s 24-point advantage with that group, according to CNN exit polls. 

The demographic shift could become a newsworthy repudiation of the Democratic Party and its priorities by a growing contingency of Generation Z.

“Trump won the popular vote and an electoral college landslide — to me that signals a mandate for real change,” a junior at Dartmouth, John Coleman, tells the Sun. He serves as vice president of a student-run group that encourages discussions on conservative thought and policy at the college, Conservative Students of Dartmouth, which grew to a total of 110 members this fall from 70 members. 

“Real change,” Mr. Coleman says, means “pro-growth policies that will unleash American energy, deregulate small businesses, lower taxes, and make America affordable again.” It also suggests a social realignment. “We’re turning a page on the woke policies that have categorized groups by supposed victimhood without actually empowering those groups. We’re replacing things like affirmative action with school choice.”

According to the president of the Republican Club of Brown University, Ben Marcus, the election outcome underscores that his academic environment is out-of-touch with the American electorate.

“It has become clear that many on campus fail to recognize that Brown is just one part of a much larger, diverse nation, leading to an echo chamber that reinforces a singular, liberal viewpoint,” Mr. Marcus tells the Sun. “We hope that moving forward, Brown can foster a space that respects and includes a variety of political voices, reflecting the true diversity of thought — evidenced in this Presidential election — to be found across America.”

While their excitement is far from universal among America’s youth, for many Ivy League Republicans, today is one to celebrate.  “I am absolutely overjoyed,” the president of Yale College Republicans, Manu Anpalagan, tells the Sun. He applauds the president-elect and his running mate, Vice President-elect Vance for finding footing among a broad range of demographics, “creating a diverse and vibrant coalition like never before.” 

“Voters have given our Republican Party a wonderful opportunity, and now the good work begins to keep those promises and return America to her true glory,” Mr. Anpalagan says. “It’s a great day to be alive, and I am confident that Trump and Vance will deliver for all of us.”