Director, Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Division of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
Hall Memorial Building S 141
8:30-5:00
‘Bunmi is my foreshortened middle name; it means “Gift”. Olubunmi in full, meaning “Gift from God”. I identify first as a Yoruba man of Ekiti extraction, before I identify as a Nigerian. I was raised with a sense of pride in my heritage and my lineage on both sides. As I was always told when I was a boy, I am “from Oke-Imope Quarters, Otun-Ekiti, scion of Dr. N. F. Aina, whose father Chief Adebiyi Aina —husband of Faponmile, the one whose name people invoked when they were aggrieved— was Obasaba of Otun…whose mother Chief (Mrs). E. A. Aina hails from Odo-Oja Quarters, Otun-Ekiti... the daughter of Chief Babafemi Awogbami, Osopo Adimula Oloju Owa –the King’s Eyes— son of the Obamila of Otun, and Asake”.
I am a 1990 law graduate of Obafemi Awolowo Univesity, (aka Great Ife), Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and the first Deaf person in West Africa to graduate with a law degree. In 1991, I earned my Barrister at Law qualifications from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, and was called to the Nigerian Bar, thus becoming West Africa’s first Deaf lawyer.
I was counsel at Gani Fawehinmi Chambers and rose to become Senior Deputy Editor at the Nigerian Law Publications Ltd., publishers of the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports (NWLR) before I relocated to the US in 1994, where I earned a MSW from Gallaudet in 1996.
I have been an administrator in American higher education since 2000. I was founding director of the Educational Diagnostic Center at the SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf in Big Spring, Texas (2000-2003), founding director of the former Office of International Programs and Services (OIPS) at Gallaudet University (2003-08), founding director of Keeping the Promise (KTP) in the former Office of Diversity and Equity for Students (ODES) at Gallaudet (2008-17) and currently serve as Director of Diversity and Inclusion within the Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
My fondest memories of my Gallaudet years include:
In my spare time, I enjoy reading Africana, and have nursed a growing library of African non-fiction literature for more than 10 years. I also enjoy writing, and have been published in some Nigerian newspapers as well as having contributed 2 book chapters. I have traveled widely and presented in various fora in the United States, Europe and Africa. Most of all, I enjoy contributing to African charitable causes from an altruistic position, and for this purpose, have used two vehicles –Strategies to Advance and Network Deaf Africans for Ubuntu, Inc. (STAND for Ubuntu, Inc.); and Global Deaf Aid Foundation, Inc. (GDAF. Inc.)—of which I am founding president and vice-president respectively.
I have been blessed with 4 children: Oluseun, a brilliant girl studying astrophysics at Towson University in Maryland, Kabelo, an aspiring rugby player and sports scientist headed for academic success and professional sports stardom with the University of Pretoria and Blue Bulls Rugby Union Club, Ayodeji, a rising high school junior with aspirations to study engineering while moonlighting as an interpreter, and Olumide, a boy heading into a coruscating future.
I am currently Director, Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
I have a vision for entrenching equity and inclusion at Gallaudet. It encompasses a variety of positions, including moral/social justice, economic, market and results positions. Stated at length, if we can capitalize on our diversity by building our output from the different perspectives everyone brings to the table, if we can reflect the diversity of our current and projected student population, if we can let each person contribute, if we can maximize the usage of our talent pool, then we will have succeeded in creating a stronger, healthier, inclusive campus community.
In order to accomplish that, one of my priorities is the development of a multifaceted pipeline program which will in the long term produce future generations of inclusive leaders. Commencing today.
President, Strategies to Advance & Network Deaf Africans for Ubuntu, Inc (aka STAND for Ubuntu, Inc.) www.standforubuntu.org
Vice President, Global Deaf Aid Foundation, Inc. www.globaldeafaid.org
National Black Deaf Advocates, Inc. (NBDA), Director of Communication (2015-17)
Global Deaf Connection, Advisory Committee Member (2004-2010)
Correspondent Secretary, Organization for Equity for African Americans, OEAA (2007-2012)
Awards & Recognitions
Nigerian Weekly Law Reports, Reporter of the Month (March-May 1994)
SWCID Male Staff of the Year 2000-2001
Commonwealth of Kentucky: Kentucky Colonel (August 2015)
Presentations
Strategic Leadership International Deaf Leadership Training Institute, Jos, Nigeria, December 2005
Strategic Planning & Problem Solving International Deaf Leadership Training Institute, Jos, Nigeria, December 2005
Education and Enlightenment: The Keys to Fighting HIV/AIDS among Deaf Women in Nigeria Deaf Women & HIV/AIDS in Africa: No Time to Wait Conference; Midrand, South Africa, June 2007
Racial Identity & Academic Achievement Deaf People of Color Conference, June 14 2013
To the Future with Faith: Marching on Together Deaf Nigerians in England, October 22 2016; NBDA Conference Baltimore MD August 2017
Anchoring Black Deaf Students in Academic Success NBDA Conference, Louisville KY, August 2015
From Nigeria to Fiji: Andrew Foster Touches Eternity Black History Month Presentation University of Cincinnati February 25, 2016; NBDA Conference, Baltimore MD August 2017
Anchoring Black and Latinx Deaf Students in Academic Success 29th NCORE Conference, June 2, 2016
Strategic Leadership for Organizational Development African Federation of Sign Language Interpreters Regional Conference, Abuja, Nigeria, May 26, 2017
Strengthening Deaf People's Human Rights in Nigeria African Federation of Sign Language Interpreters Regional Conference, Abuja, Nigeria, May 27, 2017
Deaf People in Southwest Nigeria: Their Aspirations and its Impact on Society Southwest Nigeria Deaf Festival August 2, 2018
Diversity Disability & Inclusion in Our Field: Re-Centering PJSA's Mission for Inclusive Peace & Justice Peace and Justice Studies Association 2018 Conference, September 2018
Creating Symbiosis: Supporting the Bilingual Mission through the EDI Inclusive Excellence Framework to Promote the Living, Wellbeing and Belonging of the Gallaudet Community --
Presentation to the Diversity Committee of the Board of Trustees February 8, 2019
Book Chapters
Overcoming Cultural and Linguistic Barriers to HIV/AIDS Education among Deaf People in Africa in Citizenship, Politics, Difference: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Signed Language Communities; Cooper A, Rashid K Eds Gallaudet University Press 2015
Andrew Foster Touches Eternity: From Nigeria to Fiji in It's a Small World: International Deaf Spaces and Encounters; Friedner, M., Kusters A, Eds Gallaudet University Press 2015