Senior Spotlight

Tori Harwell Spotlights Olivia Kerr

The small tattoos sprinkling their hands like fairy dust are the first thing that comes to mind when I remember meeting Olivia Kerr. Followed closely by their knowledge and intellect, as it has always pushed me to be a better academic. Olivia is a graduating Mellon Mays Fellow (class of 2023). Their journey at Washington University is quickly ending, but their commitment to “being a disruptor” in academia is far from over. Olivia plans to pursue a career, and one might say a lifestyle of moving forward in the Black Feminist tradition. I can’t wait to hear in 5-6 years that Olivia had spread their wings and become a full-fledged Black women's historian focusing on “Black queer people, piecing together their presence in the archive.” Olivia’s values and commitment guided their Mellon project and other independent research. Through their work, they hope to uncover the intentionally silenced voices of Black Queer women and historically constructed women of Black queer people. Olivia reflected that the historical subjects of their research weren’t “present in the history class I was in” growing up.

Olivia said something that clarified my understanding of Mellon’s purpose: “You can’t do it alone; it is all about community and friendships that are genuine at their core.” The most memorable moments in Mellon for Olivia were not marked with grandiose gestures, but instead, it was a culmination of little things that allowed them to grow confident in their abilities as academics by reckoning with imposter syndrome. And more importantly, it has “given Olivia the space to be who they are.”

Olivia reminisced about the importance of their junior year Mellon Seminar, Mellon became a community where Olivia learned how to create a more sustainable relationship with academics by “stepping back when they were experiencing burnout.” The seniors at the time led by example, as Olivia has done for me. While unspoken, Olivia has often given me the courage to continue pursuing the creation of knowledge. As another nonbinary Black person in the academy, it is rare to find someone whose very existence seems to be an antithesis to the harsh unwritten rules that elite institutions like Washington University are built on. This is why the flurry of tattoos that cover Olivia’s arms has stuck with me; those little draws were much like my own. Seeing them as I walked into class the first day gave me hope that maybe Black queer people have a space within such institutions. As a program, Mellon gave us both a space to sustain that hope; to sculpt life-long projects. With a knowing smile, Olivia told me their advice to current and incoming Mellons Mays Fellows, “Make sure what you are doing is something you are passionate about at your core.”

While I first associated Olivia with the constellation of tattoos and well-earned intellectual power, I will forever remember them by their smile; it is sly and often hidden. That is a gift that Mellon has given both of us, the chance to overcome the sterile and competitive boundaries intrinsic to Academia.