NORMAL - A day after Barack Obama's historic victory drew thousands of Illinois State University students onto the quad in spontaneous celebration, campus police had nothing but praise for the group's tame revelry.

"We had no reports of destruction; no vandalism," said ISU Police Chief Ron Swan.

Earlier Tuesday evening, hundreds of ISU students filled a campus lecture hall, watching election results on a big screen.

By midnight, Tuesday's Election Day crowd had swelled to about 3,000 students, he said. The chief noted past post-celebration crowds - for sports victories such as the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series win, for example - historically have resulted in isolated vandalism.

Swan said he was happy the crowd stayed levelheaded, and respectful. He said about 10 ISU officers and assisting Normal Police officers monitored the situation until about 2 a.m., when the students had cleared the space. "It's a great pleasure when you have a celebration and that doesn't result in damage and destruction," said Swan.

About 11 p.m., ISU senior Dan Coad was finishing up a broadcast with TV-10 news, the student-run station based in Fell Hall, when he and his friends heard sounds from the nearby quad. "People were yelling and chanting 'Obama'," he said. They went outside to follow an impromptu parade making its way round the quad.

"They were pretty rambunctious," said Coad, a 21-year-old from Beach Park. "People were giving piggyback rides, they were kind of hard to keep up with."

Shortly after midnight, the isolated groups had gelled into one megagroup, he said. Many students, many voting in their first presidential election, took Obama's victory personally.

"This is prophecy being fulfilled," said Deondre Williams, an ISU freshman from Riverdale. "Me just living this moment is a symbol for change."

Coad said one of his favorite memories of the midnight victory rally was about 200 students gathered around the flagpole singing patriotic hymns.

"My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "The Star Spangled Banner," were among the mix.

Rooting on the Illinois senator

Hours earlier, more than 400 students crowded into a standing-room-only Schroeder Hall lecture hall to watch election returns. With each announced blue state, cheers erupted.

"I think he's just more exciting - the way he talks to us, the way he connects with us, and he really addresses our issues," said freshman Rollin Horton, 19, of Dunlap.

"A lot of the issues he's looking at affect us: Last year was the worst year to graduate from college, given the job outlook. And the cost of college is rising out of control," he said.

The ISU Election Extravaganza was organized by two student groups and was part of the campus' participation in the American Democracy Project, which aims to get college students more civically engaged.

Many of the students came to fill out sheets to earn extra credit for a class, but ended up staying for the party.

"I came because I had to, but now that I'm here I'm having fun," said Liz Lavallee, an ISU junior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Cable TV news updates were projected on a large screen as students took part in the night's festivities, including free pizzas, sodas and other snacks, plus games and prizes.

Earlier, at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, a handful of students watched early returns on CNN.

"Personally, I like his policies, especially on education - he looks at grade school through college," said Benjamin Billups, an IWU sophomore from Joliet.

"It's almost like a culmination of the civil rights movement," Billups said. "Finally, we can have an African-American as president," he said.

Fellow student Babawande Afolabi, an international student hailing from Nigeria, said in his travels abroad he's found "a huge interest" in Obama around the world.

"He seems very young, and his opposition to the Iraq War also brought him support around the globe," said Afolabi.

The Nigerian said he was enjoying following the election returns. In his country the final winner is announced, but media reports don't detail the partial numbers. Afolabi gathered with about 25 of his fellow IWU students in a Pffeifer Hall lounge to watch the results.

"Most everyone was excited when Obama won," he said.

Sharon K. Wolfe contributed to this story.