LEWISTON – For Rosette Lakon, Tuesday’s inauguration of Barack Obama meant more than the transition to a new administration for her adopted country.

For the refugee from Cameroon, Tuesday’s historic event bodes well for her future as a citizen of the United States.

“It means a lot,” she said, repeating her words slowly. “That is a lot of hope for us.”

Lakon watched the inaugural festivities along with roughly 100 students and faculty members packed into a library anteroom at University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College Tuesday, the overflow crowds standing or sitting on the floor. The school provided a movie screen and projected television footage of the event. A table along one wall was jammed with potluck goodies, including a chocolate cake inscribed with, “Welcome Home America.”

Lakon, who married, has two children and lives in Lewiston, said she knows she made the right decision.

“This election is showing that people are seeing more than color now,” she said. “They choose somebody for his qualifications.”

She changed jobs more than five times because she felt she wasn’t welcome as an African native. “We were not equal to white,” she said. “I feel like my culture was not accepted here.”

That changed with Obama’s election.

“That shows me that after I finish going to school I will be welcome at the hospital I apply for,” she said.

Michelle Vazquez-Jacobus, an assistant professor, brought her husband, Robert, and their three young children to work. A coordinator for community service, she shares Obama’s experience getting people involved in local affairs and comes from a bi-cultural family.

“It’s so hard to put into words what this means on so many levels,” she said. She let her ethics class out early after discussing how ethically important it was to regard the county’s new president and let them spend some time contemplating the big issues.

Lauren Breaux of Portland, a graduate student in occupational therapy, volunteered for Obama’s campaign. “After the past eight years of so much hardship, I’m really impressed by Obama’s ability to draw people together,” she said.