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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 tuftsdaily.com

when poetry meets politics: ayomide Oloyede reflects on his congressional internship in washington

by Mark Choi

Executive Features Editor

Content warning: This article contains a graphic description of gun violence.

The summer of 2022 might have been one of the most consequential and politically fraught times in recent American history. From the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had protected women’s right to choose since 1973, to the Jan. 6 hearings and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the American public wrestled with some of the most profound changes in the nation’s political landscape. The nation also mourned the loss of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which prompted the historic passage of bipartisan gun legislation in June.

Ayomide Oloyede, a sophomore, was where it all happened this summer, witnessing history unfold before his eyes, in real time. As a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation intern in Washington, D.C., Oloyede worked for Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), attending over 100 seminars and meetings for the House Ways and Means Committee as well as the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Oloyede also drafted Dear Colleague Letters, policy memos and statements, working closely with his chief of staff and team throughout.

One of the most memorable moments from his internship, Oloyede cited, was attending the Jan. 6 hearing in person.

“I was like, ‘I watched this on TV. Now I’m in the room,’” Oloyede said. “Somebody just texted me and said that they saw me [on C-SPAN]. I am in this room. I am in the row next to the row that they reserve for members of Congress. I’m looking at Sheila Jackson Lee, a representative from Houston, right there. We walked out of the room together and took a selfie. I am 18 in D.C., and I literally was like, ‘Woah, this is not real. I have to pinch myself.’ … It was insane.”

The CBCF’s prestigious summer internship is open for rising college sophomores to recent graduates, Oloyede explained, and the program includes free housing on Capitol Hill with a $3,000 stipend and Metro credit.

Oloyede first heard about the internship through one of his professors at Tufts, Kaitlin KellyThompson, who also wrote his letter of recommendation for the program.

“[She] was a professor that I had [in the] first semester [of college] and I had really, really liked, and so I took another class of hers the next semester,” Oloyede said. “She had just thought of me while she was at a conference and [told me that] ‘I heard about this,’ and she sent it to me.”

At its core, the CBCF is about uplifting and empowering the next generation of Black leaders by exposing them to the legislative process on the ground, according to Oloyede. Oloyede added that his roommate for the program, Noah Harris, was the first Black male student body president in Harvard College’s 386-year history and also a Truman Scholar, who will attend Harvard Law School in 2024.

As one of the youngest members of the cohort, Oloyede initially felt as though he was somehow undeserving and inadequate to be a part of the program.

“I felt that I was wasting the gift that I had: The gift that I was given to be a part of this program. I was wasting it because I was so young,” Oloyede said. “[I questioned,] ‘Am I really worthy to be in this space? Can I network? Do I even know how to talk to people? Am I enough to be in this space?’ I really wrestled with that for a really long time.”

Ultimately, it was a sense of solidarity — fostered by shared vulnerability within the group — that enabled Oloyede to be fully present in the moment, thereby helping him to articulate his vision and ideas for the future.

“We would sit in our apartment, on the couches, and we would just talk. … One person would be like, ‘I feel inadequate in this space,’” Oloyede said. “And we would be like, ‘Here’s how we deal with that, here’s how we navigate that, [and] you deserve to be here.’”

Throughout his internship, Oloyede discovered his voice and power as a writer, especially as he explored the interconnectedness of politics and poetry.

“As a spoken word poet, I write to speak it, which is different [from] a written poem where you write so that somebody who’s reading it will get everything that you mean from the words [alone],” Oloyede said. “I write with the purpose of people getting the meaning from inflection, body movement, facial expression. … You have to see me perform it, because that’s what it was made to do. So I wrote my statements as if [they were] a speech.”

Oloyede shared that three of his statements have been published into the Congressional record, which helped translate his poetic language into his works on the Hill.

“[Policy] memos were hard for me to write, but … I had a ball with the statements. … With the statements, I was able to use the descriptive nature of my art, and the metaphor is in the center [of my statements],” Oloyede said. “I wrote one for the Soul Children of Chicago, which I believe is the youngest Grammy Award-winning youth choir … and I had a really good time with it, because I just got to add so much energy into it. So that really influenced and made me — art made me write speeches better.”

For Oloyede, politics is not simply about analyzing or dissecting the numbers as there is a story attached behind every number.

“I often try to look at the issue as a citizen, as a person, because a tendency of the Hill is to forget what it’s like to be a person,” Oloyede said. “You get so into the legal jargon, you get into all these different things that you forget how this affects somebody. … The tax is not just a tax — that’s money that a family that may be struggling might have to come up with, that might be coming out of their income. That is not just tax money, that’s groceries, that’s a home.”

In this context, Oloyede’s view of politics has also shaped and influenced his poetry, further extending the scope of his writing.

“[Politics] made me touch on harder topics [more often].” Oloyede said. “Because I was in the Capitol … and with all this stuff happening, I was like, ‘I need to find some time to write. Because I will never be in this moment, at this time, ever again.’”

Indeed, poetry helped Oloyede grapple with some of the most challenging news and events as an individual, including the Uvalde shooting and its aftermath.

“There was one poem that … [made] me want to rip my hair out. And I could not continue with it. I had the idea, and I could not continue with it because I was at a loss for words,” Oloyede said. “While I was on the Hill, they had a gun reform hearing about the Uvalde shooting, and they had the parents of a girl who died during the shooting come testify. And they had a video testimony of one of the girls who smeared the blood of her best friend on her body and pretended to be dead, to survive and not be shot by the shooter.”

Oloyede shared that while he did not get to finish this particular poem, writing it helped him process one of the most difficult moments on the Hill.

“The premise of the poem was, ‘I wonder if the parents of the students who got shot and died, I wonder if they knew that morning, when they dressed their child up for school in their fancy footwear and fancy outfits, that they would be dressing them up for a funeral,’” he said. “I wonder if they knew, you know, I wonder … because obviously they could never have known. … You wear fancy stuff for an occasion, and they dressed their kids up [on] this day. I imagine these kids smiling and the parents taking pictures, and I wonder if they knew

COURTESY AYOMIDE OLOYEDE

Ayomide Oloyede is pictured.

Oloyede discusses the intersection of poetry and politics within his personal journey

OLOYEDE

continued from page 4 that they were dressing them up for their funeral. And so that’s a way that politics influenced my art: It put me in the center and forced me to reckon with heart-wrenching things.”

Poetry was also with Oloyede through some of the happiest moments of his internship, including the time he found himself in Vogue, as he was ushering in the wedding of Symone Sanders, the host of MSNBC’s “Symone.” In this way, Oloyede reflected that poetry has helped him “squeeze” the moments for his “authentic emotional representation” along his journey.

“I would [also] try to write poetry about something that made me happy, and there were lots of things that made me happy in D.C. … I met really, really cool people — I met Nancy Pelosi one time, I danced with Joyce Beatty, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and … I drove Joyce Beatty around in a golf cart at [a] golf tournament,” Oloyede said. “So many good things happened amidst all of the chaos, and so I wanted my poetry to reflect some of the good things that were happening.”

As a first-generation student and QuestBridge Scholar at Tufts, Oloyede emphasized that this summer’s opportunity would not have been possible without the help of his family, friends, mentors and, most importantly to him, God.

“I can only attribute [my success] to the people God has put in my life,” he said.

In this regard, Oloyede added that his mom has often likened him to a seed, and that with the help of God and the people in his life, he is to bear fruits. Informed and inspired by this metaphor, Oloyede reflected on his personal journey thus far.

“I am a seed and people watered me, people gave me soil, people labored over me in the sun, people pruned me — they cut off the bad parts, they trimmed all the things that needed to go, and when the soil was dry in one area, they picked me up and took me to fertile soil, and they replanted me,” Oloyede said. “And if something bad was growing out and a dead leaf was growing out, they cut it off. I am a seed, and I want them to see that I am a product of all the things that [they] have done for me.”

Quite symbolically for Oloyede, the last day of his internship, July 30, was also his birthday, metaphorically opening up a new chapter of his life.

Embarking on his second year at Tufts, Oloyede is the Tufts Community Union FIRST Community Senator, a Tisch Scholar and he also plans to be involved with the university’s theater department.

Overall, Oloyede shared his excitement as he begins a new school year at Tufts.

“I’m going to have a better understanding when I go into these political science and international relations classes [this year], because I was there,” Oloyede said. “If I take an American politics class, I will be able to get so much more and contextualize it better than I could if I had not had this experience.”

Going forward, Oloyede hopes to advocate for the people and communities at Tufts and beyond, in light of his experiences and insights from the Hill.

“For somebody to come to me and be like, ‘Ayo, I’m really having this issue,’ and I can be like, ‘Don’t even worry. … I’ll take care of you.’ That’s what I want so bad,” Oloyede said.

On such a view, Oloyede elaborated on his understanding of leadership, inspired and animated by the question, ‘How can I help you?’ that has guided his journey thus far, including his internship in Washington D.C.

“[Leadership] is service. That was something that was hammered into me since high school, the concept of servant leadership, where you lead people by serving them,” Oloyede said. “And that ties back to gratitude. I don’t want to lead by telling you what to do, [and] I don’t want to lead by telling you what you need. I want to lead by hearing what you need and then trying to do that.”

The return of Tufts in Talloires: students, faculty share their memories from Talloires, France

by Elizabeth Zacks

Assistant Features Editor

The Tufts in Talloires summer study abroad program was back in full swing this summer after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From May 17 to July 1, various Tufts faculty members and approximately 70 students returned to the beloved Tufts European Center in Talloires, France, and spent six weeks learning, collaborating and connecting with the local community.

In an interview with the Daily, Tufts European Center Director Gabriella Goldstein explained the history and legacy of the program and campus. The main building on the Tufts European Center campus is the Priory, a monastery dating back to 1018, which was acquired by a Tufts alumnus, Donald MacJannet, who gifted it to the Tufts community in 1978.

“Having seen World War I and … World War II, [MacJannet wanted] a place where people are going to come together and have important conversations, where they are going to exchange ideas … and feel a sense of global citizenship, so that there will be peace,” Goldstein said. “And so that’s kind of our legacy.”

In Talloires, students can take two courses for college credit. The courses are taught by Tufts faculty, and the course options span across multiple different disciplines, according to the program’s official website.

In explaining the program’s curriculum, Goldstein highlighted that all nine course options have a pedagogical connection to Talloires.

“All of the classes that we offer here need to show a connection to this place. Not Talloires specifically, but there needs to be a reason that they’re going to be taught here,” Goldstein said.

One of the courses offered this summer was The French Enlightenment: Art and Political Thought, co-taught by Vickie Sullivan, a professor in the Department of Political Science, and Andrew McClellan, a professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture.

Sullivan explained that while she focused on teaching Montesquieu’s and Rousseau’s thought through the course, McClellan taught the trajectory of art history in the 18th century.

Sullivan reflected on her co-teaching experience with McClellan this summer.

“I really enjoyed learning from [Professor McClellan]. I know him as a colleague, … but I didn’t know him as a teacher,” she said. “It was great because I felt like I was a student when he was teaching.”

Sullivan also told the Daily about some of the precautions that students and faculty took, in light of the presence of COVID19. She said that they wore masks out of courtesy during the first week because people were traveling from different places.

“That being said, people got COVID but the cases were mild,” Sullivan said.

Once the students were acclimated to campus, Sullivan noticed that students were excited for intellectual and social engagement in Talloires.

“The students who were there this year were really sort of the COVID generation and they had been deprived so much. … They just threw themselves into everything and just had a blast,” Sullivan said. “This year, the room was packed, … you couldn’t keep the students away. It was anything, any sort of intellectual engagement they were really excited for.”

Another course offered in Talloires was Animation in the Alps, taught by Joel Frenzer, a professor of the practice in media arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. For his course, students documented their immersion experience in Talloires through the medium of animation, Frenzer explained.

Frenzer added that his class had the opportunity to attend the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the largest international animation festival in the world, and for their final, all 12 students shared their animated short films with the entire Tufts in Talloires program.

“We [had] a screen and a projector and they hadn’t really seen their work with an audience like that before,” Frenzer said. “[A lot of the films were] personal, they get vulnerable, and real and honest. And there is an emotional transformation that happens by watching all their work that you can feel with the audience. … They got a standing ovation and they were just so proud.”

Tufts in Talloires offers a range of in-person classes and cultural opportunities

TALLOIRES

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Frenzer further noted that the Tufts in Talloires program allowed him to get to know his students on a deeper level and befriend fellow Tufts faculty members from the Medford/Somerville campus that he wouldn’t have otherwise met at the SMFA.

“The program is excellent because of the bonding with other faculty. … All these faculty that I would never come across, we are in the same small French village for six weeks together, and we go out to eat together, and we talk and we know each other’s families,” Frenzer said.

Outside of the classroom, students and faculty had the opportunity to explore the local community and connect with each other, Goldstein added.

“I think the community piece is important. So we have a field day of games that we do. …. We do hikes. We invite all the children from the community to come here. … We did a watercolor painting afternoon,” Goldstein said. “So as much as possible, trying to … [have] facilitated activities that will help people connect with each other and feel more comfortable with us.”

Tufts in Talloires students and faculty do not just interact and explore the local communities as outsiders, but they also live with them throughout the program. An integral part of the Tufts in Talloires program is that students are required to live with a host family in Talloires or Annecy, and they have the option to have a Tufts housemate.

Camille Smokelin, a sophomore who participated in Tufts in Talloires this summer, shared that she lived alone with an older French woman, which enabled her to practice her French skills and learn about French culture.

She also told the Daily about her typical day in Talloires, which included spending an average of three hours in classes at the Priory and the rest of the day out and about.

“I would go to class and … after that, you would just go to the beach and continue to spend time with people outside of the classroom setting,” Smokelin said. “I felt like that was the most special part of it, that you got to, number one, be in such a beautiful place that encouraged community in that way but also get to see your peers as students and also as friends, so continuously, seamlessly in one day.”

If students are interested in participating in the Talloires program and, by extension, summer abroad programs through Tufts, they should apply early, look into scholarship opportunities and reach out to the Tufts European Center, junior Lucy Millman explained.

Reflecting on her time in Talloires, Millman noted that while the program has its distinctive advantages, accessibility and affordability remain to be an issue in her view.

“Everyone I came across are some of the most lovely and wonderful people I’ve ever met. The region is beautiful. Those are some of the happiest and most lovely six weeks of my entire life,” Millman said. “I just hope that it gets the funding it needs to continue to be more accessible, because I think the only thing that would make that program better is that if everyone on this campus has the opportunity to partake.”

After two years of upheaval amid the pandemic, this summer’s return of students and faculty to Talloires reignited a flame of excitement and appreciation, both in and outside the walls of the Priory, which will continue to spark and grow as the future unfolds.

academic journeys continue through Tufts summer sessions

by Kaitlyn Wells

Deputy Features Editor

Each summer, Tufts students and visitors enroll in summer session classes that occur for a number of weeks during the break between the two regular academic semesters. This year, the Tufts summer session included both virtual and in-person opportunities to study a selection of classes that may be offered during the academic year, as well as some special programs such as Access for Computer Equity.

For Tufts sophomore Nole Wade, the summer session presented a way to accelerate his Arabic language acquisition.

“I wanted to increase my proficiency as quickly as possible, and start working on the [Arabic] minor … in my sophomore year,” Wade said. “If I don’t start working on my minor with Arabic now, it’d be a lot more difficult to work on it in my junior year when I’m trying to complete other studies.”

Wade added that his plan to study abroad factored into his decision to take an intensive summer Arabic course this summer.

“I also wanted to study abroad, as soon as possible, … I wanted to try and do it before junior year — maybe next summer. So I thought that building my proficiency would help a lot,” Wade said.

Mohammad Ahmadi, another sophomore, used this year’s summer session to unlock courses for the upcoming fall semester.

“It was not a matter of motivation, but because I’m an [economics] major, and [for] the courses that I was supposed to take for the fall semester, [Calculus] 1 was one of the prerequisites,” Ahmadi said.

David Denby is a distinguished senior lecturer in the philosophy department who has been teaching summer session courses since the mid-1990s. He noted how the composition and demographic of his summer students have changed over the years.

“There was a time when I had quite a few high school students. I think they have separate provision for them now … the basic makeup of the students apart from that is more or less the same. Most of them are Tufts students, perhaps two thirds, a third are from all over the place,” Denby said. “I do have more students now who are older, you know, people who work in administration, perhaps at Tufts, who are just doing a summer course, or people who have gone back to school later in life.”

Before committing to a summer session course, Wade had to evaluate his options on how to spend his limited time.

“I was kind of hesitant because … it was either I take a job or take a class online. And what kind of helped me make the decision was [speaking] to my mom. She was like, okay, well, if you like it, you should do it,” Wade said.

In the end, Wade signed up to take a virtual intensive course that combined the Arabic 3 and Arabic 4 language classes. His resulting schedule during the summer session was highly demanding, Wade explained.

“You’re compressing two semesters into six weeks. So you’re doing probably almost like a week of class every other day,” Wade said.

For six weeks, Wade was in class from Mondays to Fridays for about 5–6 hours at a time, including a break for lunch during which students could use to complete asynchronous work. This was followed by several hours of homework after each lesson.

see SUMMER, page 7

SUMMER

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On top of the rigor and intensity of summer courses, there are also unique logistical challenges to summer session classes, Ahmadi explained. In Calculus 1, Ahmadi encountered a last-minute change to his summer course timeline.

“[The class] was supposed to end on [Aug.] 18, but our professor even shortened it, and I think he ended it on Aug. 4, instead of [Aug.] 18,” Ahmadi said. “[The professor] made a bunch of excuses, like, [that] we cover everything in the class.”

“I feel really betrayed,” Ahmadi said with a laugh. However, he revealed that students who had taken the same course in the spring had access to an online resource that the summer session course did not provide.

“We had six to eight questions per [homework] assignment, and that [wasn’t] enough to really master that topic,” Ahmadi said.

This was especially challenging for students in the class who were learning calculus for the first time, Ahmadi added.

“I kind of realized that the professor is treating everyone [like they had] taken [calculus] before … and that was kind of annoying for me because I had not taken [calculus] before,” Ahmadi said.

Denby taught Logic and Introduction to Philosophy this summer. Overall, he acknowledged the inherent difficulty of the increased pace of summer session courses.

“I try to do exactly the same course in the summer as I did in the regular semester, because, you know, I don’t want to shortchange anyone,” Denby said. “[The summer session] is enormously compressed. … Some of the topics we cover, it’s nice to have the students allow them to percolate for a couple of days, and that’s just not available in the summer, you know. You’re right on to the next thing every day.”

The summer session is also not as accessible or equitable for all Tufts students. Ahmadi, a first-generation and low-income student hailing from Afghanistan, detailed many obstacles he faced to take summer courses.

“I’m an FGLI student and … the courses here are really expensive compared to other colleges, … especially the courses that you [take] for a letter grade. … Here at Tufts, you have to pay like around $4,000 for a course,” Ahmadi said. “For an FGLI student, that’s a lot of money. And you kind of have to take everything from everywhere, you know, to pay for the class. And because I was an international student there wasn’t any … financial [aid] or anything for that class.”

Ahmadi continued, “I know that domestic students receive a lot of funding for summer courses if they are an FGLI student. But for international students, it’s not like that. You don’t get funding for classes, even if that class is required for your major or if [it’s] a prerequisite for other courses.”

In addition to Calculus 1, Ahmadi took a one-credit course titled Sociology 99, which was considered part of an internship he was doing simultaneously.

“For us international students, we have to go through a lot to work off campus. So … the administrative process was very long, … but everybody was really supportive in the International Center, my professor was really supportive. So I didn’t run into any serious problems,” Ahmadi said. “I think there is a policy that if an international student on financial aid takes a course for internship and if it’s less than two [semester-hour units] … the financial aid office pays for it.”

Students might also enroll in the Tufts summer session for other reasons. Denby noted that many students like to “slip in an extra course or two” in the summer “if they want to graduate early” or when they’ve fallen behind on their coursework.

Considering that students’ circumstances are more variable during the summer, Denby pointed out that greater flexibility is required on the part of the course teacher.

“There are unique challenges … to deal with [such as] fitting it in with work they might have, or they might be away, or … it turns out to be more time consuming than they imagined,” Denby said. “So I am much more lax in allowing for things like incompletes … I try to make ad hoc adjustments.”

Denby also highlighted some of the advantages of summer sessions, citing a smaller average class size as an example.

“Very often, not always, but often, the [summer] classes are smaller. And I think they find that that helps them as well: you get more discussion going sometimes … So there are some advantages but generally speaking, the feedback’s good from the students,” Denby said.

While Ahmadi shared his positive view on summer courses as a way to continue learning in general, he still thinks that the cost of summer courses at Tufts is a hindrance.

“Taking the summer course is definitely a good choice; … you’re not away from academics [during the summer] … but I wouldn’t recommend [taking] it here necessarily at Tufts because it’s really expensive compared to other colleges,” Ahmadi said.

Echoing Ahmadi’s sentiment, Wade advised to carefully weigh the pros and cons of taking a summer course, in light of other time commitments and considerations over the summer.

“It’s important that you kind of weigh [taking a summer course] … with other potential experiences that you might miss out on,” Wade said.

It’s safe to say that members of the Tufts student body continue to seek knowledge and growth in all sorts of ways outside the fall and spring semesters. Some choose to do it through the Tufts summer session, which tends to offer smaller, more flexible and more age-diverse classes; however, this is not a possibility that is open to all.

NEWS

Tufts signs amicus brief supporting constitutionality of race-conscious admissions

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continued from page 1 disrupt the precedent set by the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious college admissions were lawful.

Natasha Warikoo, a Tufts sociology professor whose research focuses on racial inequality in higher education, pointed out inconsistencies between SFFA Director Edward Blum’s claims of discrimination and data surrounding the experiences of Asian and Asian American applicants.

“[Blum] is not interested in discrimination toward Asian Americans, or anybody,” Warikoo said. “His goal is to end any racebased policy that is trying to actually remedy racial exclusion.”

Warikoo disputed the notion that colleges have certain quotas based on race or ethnicity, noting that admissions officers prioritize a number of different applicant attributes. While not explicitly racialized, factors like extracurricular participation, intended major and legacy status may be influenced by underlying variables that relate to systemic racism, she explained.

Warikoo also expressed disappointment that the Supreme Court — currently dominated by a supermajority of six conservative justices — decided to take the case despite nearly 20 years of precedent supporting the legality of affirmative action policies.

“There was kind of a shock that the U.S. Supreme Court took this case, because there have been multiple cases that have already been to the Supreme Court that have confirmed affirmative action legally, as long as it’s narrowly tailored,” Warikoo said. “This court is not afraid to overturn precedent.”

In a statement to the Daily, Dean of Admissions J.T. Duck discussed how affirmative action practices fit into Tufts’ holistic application review process.

“Our process of building each entering class involves reviewing thousands of applications in a holistic, contextual, and iterative admissions process that takes into consideration dozens, if not hundreds, of factors for each applicant,” Duck wrote. “We care very much about each applicant’s voice and journey, what motivates them, and how what they have learned from their journey will contribute to our dynamic community.”

Like many colleges, Tufts would have to change its admissions practices if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of SFFA. In a written statement to the Daily, Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mary Jeka noted that Tufts will remain committed to “ensuring that our community reflects students from all walks of life,” regardless of the Court’s decision.

“Even if a particular admissions or recruiting practice were to be viewed critically or negatively by the court, that does not mean that universities – such as Tufts – cannot continue to advance their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals,” Jeka wrote. “There are many ways to help underrepresented people feel welcome at Tufts and to support their success.”

Warikoo commended the university’s decision to join the amicus brief. “Tufts is talking about being or becoming an anti-racist institution, and I think this is a small but important symbolic gesture to put our name on the line and say, ‘This is what we believe in,’” Warikoo said.