Title:Getting to know social justice advocate and 2019 McTighe Prize winner Omoyele Okunola (C’20)

Georgetown’s strength as an institution is inextricably linked to the strength of each student. They’re our foundation, and our future.

To elevate Georgetown’s distinction as one of the world’s greatest universities, we must keep Georgetown affordable for all students who merit admission.

Omoyele Okunola is one such student.

Originally from Bronx, New York, she graduated from Georgetown College in May and is preparing to enter Georgetown Law this fall with plans to focus on the intersection of disability rights and juvenile criminal justice.

She was awarded the 2019 McTighe Prize, named for late longtime faculty member Thomas McTighe. Every year, the prize is given to an outstanding undergraduate who has demonstrated achievement in scholarship and service to Georgetown and the surrounding community.

“Omoyele manifests the award’s mutual commitments to academic excellence, service, and reflective engagement,” says Maya Roth, Georgetown’s Della Rossa Distinguished Professor of Theater. “The prize committee was struck with her emotional maturity, her wise insights about navigating a life at Georgetown, and her deep commitment to whole person care as well as pluralism.”

Last fall, she was a guest speaker at the 2019 New Student Orientation where she shared some of her struggles as a first-generation college student and offered the advice: “Honor who you are and who you wish to become.”

Choosing Georgetown

“I initially chose Georgetown for its prestige, but the school also awarded me a full scholarship – removing a significant financial barrier to higher education,” shares Okunola.

She visited Georgetown during the Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program (GAAP) Weekend, like many of the first-year students who listened to her convocation address.

“There was something about the environment that gave me this feeling of calmness and sense of being at home. I knew this was the school for me,” she recalls.

Choosing her major

“Being an American studies major not only made me a better student, but I have become a scholar,” Okunola says. “Through my self-designed curriculum path, my critical thinking and analytical skills have vastly improved, and I can see how present-day issues remain connected to past historical circumstances.”

Valuable internship

As an American Studies and government major, she was excited to spend the summer before her senior year in Washington, DC as a U.S. Department of Justice intern with the Disability Rights section of the Civil Rights Division.

“I drafted press releases, researched how electric scooters impact the disabled and gained further knowledge about the Americans With Disabilities Act and the struggles faced by people living with disabilities,” Okunola explains.

Interest in disability rights

“I’m a big believer that regardless of someone’s physical or mental ability, they have just as much right to life, to love, or anything else as anyone else capable of achieving that goal,” she adds.

Okunola understands some of the struggles faced by people with disabilities. She lives with sickle cell anemia, a life-threatening genetic disorder that causes a continual shortage of red blood cells.

She persevered despite the obstacles she has faced and rose to be a leader on campus.

“My identity as a Black woman living with a disability is such a salient part of who I am,” says Okunola, a first-generation Nigerian American. “My disability caused me to grow up rather quickly. It’s been hard living with this disorder, but it makes me stronger.”

Getting involved in the campus community

Okunola was vice president of Georgetown University Women of Color, and a participant in the Baker Scholars Program and the Georgetown Scholars Program. 

She also worked for the Academic Resource Center and was a member of the Justice and Diversity in Action Living and Learning Community.

Advice to incoming students

“The quality of your work is more important than the quantity,” she says.

“I think all college students, but especially Georgetown students, have this belief that if they are not participating in 10 different organizations, volunteering, working, and maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA, they somehow are failures,” the New Yorker explains. “I believe overextending yourself is a major reason college students face a number of mental health issues that are often ignored or poorly treated.”