The Lucy Law student spoke about her many sides on 'Switchboard' last week.
Oyindamola Johnson, known as Ms Eva Johnson as an artist, was featured in Varsity’s Switchboard last week. At Lucy Cavendish College, Oyin is a Masters of Law student – and she is many other things. On the podcast, she spoke about her various identities, endeavours, and status as a “walking oxymoron”.
Professionally trained as a lawyer, Oyin has a first class degree from the University of Liverpool; having practiced law in Lagos, Nigeria, she is undertaking her third law degree at Lucy Cavendish. Alongside her studies, Oyin is an actress, dancer and a spoken word poet. Treating the arts as a spectrum, she released her Afrobeats x Spoken Word single ‘Infamous Lady’ last year, as well as a debut album, From A Different Cloth. Passionate about social reform, human rights and education, she strives to propagate these in her art. Now completing her degree at Lucy Cavendish, Oyin’s intellectual, artistic and feminist values reflect the ethos of the College.
Switchboard is the flagship radio show of Cambridge student newspaper Varsity, and is broadcast on CamFM. Switchboard is about true, insightful and unexpected tales from people in Cambridge; last week, the common theme was ‘Speaking Out’. Oyin spoke out about success in male-dominated worlds, from the courtroom to the stage of spoken word poetry. Last month, for example, she was the only female spoken word poet at the Caius Diversity Day (captivating audiences with her multitalented performance). Oyin’s refusal to be marginalised, her armoury of talents which deny reductive categorisation, is evident in the Switchboard feature – she is a “walking oxymoron” for this reason.
Speaking about Lucy Cavendish, Oyin said:
“My time at Lucy Cavendish has been a gift. From working as International Officer with the most driven, intelligent ladies on our Students’ Union, and making friends over dinner with people from all over the world, to having the kindest porters and an amicable College President - Lucy Cavendish has made my Cambridge experience an unforgettable one.”
College President Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins said:
“Many congratulations to Oyin for the feature in Switchboard, and for everything discussed within it. Oyin is an outstanding example of our students, giving a voice to the voiceless, and improving society in and outside of her studies. We look forward to hearing what comes next.”
Switchboard is broadcast each Sunday at 12.30 – 13.00. Listen to ‘Speaking Out’ and other episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major podcast platforms.
Listen to From a Different Cloth on major music streaming platforms here, and learn about Ms Eva Johnson here.