Gallaudet makes its mark on the White House Fellows program

Tawny Holmes Hlibok, ’05 & G-’10, who is a White House Fellow this year, hosted her fellow program participants at Gallaudet on October 15th. The prestigious program invites high-achieving leaders to take a yearlong post in the federal government. The White House Fellows program includes illustrious alumni such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, current Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro, and CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. 

At the event, Holmes Hlibok served as Presiding Fellow, moderating a discussion with Provost Khadijat K. Rashid, ’90, who was the first White House Fellow from Gallaudet. Topics discussed included the state of deaf education, the value of higher education broadly in the U.S., language access, economics, the concept of “Deaf Gain,” and accommodations. After this discussion, followed by a tour of campus resplendent in fall colors, fellows were treated to a warm welcome by President Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano and lunch, hosted by Academic Affairs.

“Participation in the White House Fellows changed my life and my career trajectory. It introduced me to the inner workings of the United States government, and taught me the value of service which to this day I carry with me,” says Rashid.

Associate Professor Holmes Hlibok’s placement is with the Domestic Policy Council as Disability Policy Advisor, applying her policymaking expertise and law background. “I also aim to represent our community and the many communities of people with disabilities well by being at the table and bringing the multiple perspectives of those communities to it,” she says.

Her path to the fellowship began with a webinar hosted by the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics last year. She attended to support the recently appointed Leah Katz-Hernandez ’10, and to be aware of key priorities related to Latine deaf students in her role as Executive Director of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf.

“The webinar mentioned the White House Fellowship program, and it immediately captured my interest, especially with my passion for policy and advocacy,” says Holmes Hlibok, who has years of experience as Education Policy Counsel at the National Association of the Deaf and Language Policy Counsel for the first Chief Bilingual Officer at Gallaudet.

That fall, Holmes Hlibok also co-taught “Policy Analysis for Community Revitalization” with Cordano for the Deaf Studies program. With undergraduate and graduate students from several disciplines, Holmes Hlibok recalls, “the students were interested in pushing for policy change in multiple areas, from inside the government to outside, and in mental health, gender, international access, and more.” She drew largely on her background in the non-profit advocacy sector and on early intervention and education to teach the course. With her new role in the Domestic Policy Council, she says, “I will be positioned to give even more back to Gallaudet students, especially with a deeper breadth of policy experiences to refer to, and to guide them in their own paths as community advocates.”

Holmes Hlibok strongly encourages members of the Gallaudet community to look into becoming a future White House Fellow. “‘Go for it! As the second Deaf fellow, I view this as a unique opportunity to both showcase your uniqueness and to represent the broader communities aligned with your identities,” she says. Rashid agrees, adding, “I would be glad to recommend any qualified employee and would love for there to be less than 14 years before the next person from Gallaudet serves as a White House Fellow!” 

For more information about the program and to learn how to apply, click here.