Please join me in welcoming Oluwakemi (Kemi) Oke and congratulating her on her appointment as the Ombudsperson of York University commencing December 1, 2022.
Kemi has a research-based Master of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia where she conducted research on accountability and transparency in the public sector. She has five years of legal experience in providing advice and expertise to clients on various legal issues including administrative law and natural justice. Most recently, she has been serving as Associate Ombudsperson at Simon Fraser University (SFU), acting as a confidential, impartial, and independent resource for students and members of the university community to provide advice and guidance in navigating university policies, regulations, procedures, and appeals processes. Kemi also served as the Ombudsperson of the Alma Mater Society (AMS) of the University of British Columbia (UBC). In that role, she acted as the independent investigator of complaints and concerns relating to AMS policies and procedures. In her experience as Ombudsperson, she has assisted students and university community members in resolving a range of matters including academic and non-academic issues, bullying, harassment and discrimination. As an experienced Ombudsperson, she has advised on procedural fairness concerns in university policy review processes, identified and resolved systemic challenges and collaborated with different stakeholders to promote fairness and equity in the university. She has also served in student leadership roles including Vice President of the Graduate Law Student Society at the UBC Allard School of Law, a member of the Graduate Law Student Society on the Council of the Graduate Student Society, and a member of the policy committee of the Graduate Student Society of UBC.
I also want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude to Maureen Armstrong who has been serving as our Interim Ombudsperson since 2020. She was also instrumental in undertaking the research informing the newly constituted Office of Ombudsperson.
Sincerely,
Rhonda L. Lenton
President & Vice-Chancellor
