www.union.edu
Mary Olushoga ‘06
Major: Sociology , Africana studies minor
Minerva: Wold House
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
The first thing you notice about Mary Olushoga ’06 is her oversize smile, dancing freely across her face. It’s what inspired a classmate, Kit Goldstein ’05, to write “Smile,” a song Olushoga herself performed in Goldstein’s original musical, The Black Tulip, at the Yulman Theatre last winter.
Since arriving on campus three years ago, Olushoga has been stepping through life at Union with passion and a large, generous spirit for getting involved and helping people. From performing artist to summer researcher to tutor, this 20-year-old Nigerian native has immersed herself in College and community activities.
“Union was my last college application sent and the first acceptance received; I thought that was a good sign,” she says.
Olushoga, who moved to the Bronx with her family when she was 14, began life at Union as a budding scientist (elected president of the National Society of Black Engineers her freshman year), but soon she gravitated toward sociology. Now, with a major in sociology and a minor in Africana studies, she thrives on the study of social structures and human interaction.
“I love looking at people in the context of their environment: the people they’re around, the school or neighborhood they grew up in,” she says.
Her summer research with Professor Deidre Hill Butler on the parenting styles of African American stepmothers offered Olushoga a way to blend her academic interests.
“There hasn’t been a lot written on the topic,” she says. “The divorce rates are very high among working class African Americans because of economic stress, social stress, husbands feeling they can’t live up to role of provider. The rates are also high when a woman is college-educated, since she has security and doesn’t need to stay in the marriage if she’s being treated poorly.”
In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Olushoga was a summer tutor for STEP, the Science and Technology Entry Program for college-bound high school students from Schenectady County.
She is conversant in English, French and Yoruba, as well as in the language of many dances, including African and modern. She has danced in every Union dance program since her freshman year, including a solo, “Wade in the Water,” at last year’s Steinmetz Symposium. This fall, she sang and danced in the role of Pikake, one of the fairies, in the Hawaiian-themed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Yulman Theatre.
In the spring, Olushoga won the prestigious Edward Villella Fellowship, created by Charles Lothridge’ 44 to honor the internationally acclaimed former New York City Ballet principal dancer who later founded the Miami City Ballet. The grant gave her the chance to pursue an eight-week summer internship at Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill Arts Center, teaching Yoruba movement to children and teenagers, who in turn, taught her hip-hop. Olushoga recorded her experience at the center in her journal each day – writing being another of her many passions, discovered freshman year when she was editing the newsletter of the African/Latino Alliance of Students.
But that’s not all. Olushoga also sings with the Union Jazz Band and Heavenly Voices, the gospel choir she helped revive and then led for two years. She is an admissions interviewer, vice president of campus life for the Student Forum and a member of the Sexual Harassment and Assault Committee.
Meanwhile, Minerva living suits her. She organized a movie night at Wold House featuring an African film made by a neighbor in Nigeria, Fela “Kuti”Anikulakpokuti, who died of AIDS. On a more casual note, she likes the Friday night house ritual of ordering in different foods. “It’s great because everyone is together, and you get to know them,” she says. “It’s nice to sit in one of the common areas and meet people as they come through.” And greet them all with her signature smile.