Thanks to a generous gift from the estate of an award-winning journalist, 38 students from The University of Tulsa’s Kendall College of Arts & Sciences traveled to Washington, D.C., for the trip of a lifetime in January.
Longtime Oklahoma newspaper editor and publisher – and staunch supporter of the college – Jenk Jones Jr. passed away in 2023. “Jenk wanted students to have the opportunity witness history as it happened, and thought it was important for them to witness how the United States handles the transfer of power,” said Dean Blaine Greteman. “So, long before a winner had been decided, we asked students whether they would like to travel to Washington, D.C., the week of the presidential inauguration, regardless of the election’s outcome.” Thirty-eight students said yes, and Jones’ estate funded the excursion.
Shortly after their flight landed, students set off on an evening tour of the National Mall. History faculty from UTulsa led the tour, introducing sites many students had only ever seen in textbooks, such as the Capitol, Washington Monument, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. “Seeing these government buildings where policy that I have written about dozens of times on a test was like a full circle moment of my educational life,” said Kadee Jo Ransom, a political science/psychology junior and an intern at UTulsa’s Office of Civic Engagement.
“This wasn’t my first trip to D.C., but it was the first time I was seeing it from an educational point of view rather than just for fun,” she said. “The first time I ever visited the city was right before I began my senior year of high school. I remember looking at the Capitol building and hoping that whatever college I landed at would help me get to D.C. for the rest of my life.”
Throughout the trip, as the city bustled in preparation for official ceremonies, students, faculty, and staff traveled to Smithsonian institutions, including the American Indian Museum and African American History and Culture Museum, as well as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“UTulsa students are incredibly curious, thoughtful, and introspective, and they lean into different ideas and belief systems,” Greteman said. “You have to develop your own moral compass and be prepared to defend it. This is the quality of mind we seek to cultivate in our students: the ability to focus on the big picture, to take the long view, and to tolerate difference, even while identifying fundamental values that they will never compromise.”
During their free time, students visited other museums, including the Air and Space Museum and Natural History Museum. “I was most excited to see as many Smithsonian museums as possible,” said Ransom, who saw six in total. “The coolest part was walking through the American History Museum’s section on presidents and being able to get all the trivia questions right.”
She was particularly inspired by an exhibit encouraging voter turnout. “We have worked so hard to boost engagement on campus, and many of the artifacts displayed the exact types of messaging that we use,” Ransom said. “It felt very reassuring that the work we do on a campus in Oklahoma has a broader impact on the world.”
After the students packed up on Tuesday, some squeezed in one extra stop. “The best moment was spending our last morning at the Library of Congress, where you can look out and see the Capitol building,” Ransom reminisced. “I have dreamed of working in D.C. for so much of my life and have studied constantly to be able to make that a reality one day. Looking out on the steps felt like I am just one step closer to that life.”