School of Social Work Summer (August) 2025 Commencement

Keynote Speaker Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami

Image

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami is the Director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services at the University of Michigan, where he oversees the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, and is the founding director of the Adaptive Sports & Fitness program. He is also an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Urology and Orthopaedic Surgery.

“Dr. O” was born in Nigeria before immigrating to the U.S. at a young age. He attended high school at Deerfield Academy and college at Stanford University where he also ran track and field, serving as captain his last two seasons and achieving Academic All-American recognition.

He then earned his MD from the University of Michigan before matching into orthopedic surgery at Yale. At the beginning of his third year, he experienced a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down. After two surgeries and intense rehabilitation, he was blessed with some return of motor function, and navigates the world as a proud wheelchair user, managing the other long-term sequelae of an incomplete cervical spinal cord injury.

He has been featured on “CBS News,” “PBS News Hour” and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” He speaks around the country on creating a health system that is accessible to and inclusive of both patients and providers with disabilities, and providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities in higher education.

He is passionate about adaptive sports and fitness, striving to provide access to physical fitness and inclusive recreational and competitive sports for all. He coined the catch phrase, “Disabusing DisabilityⓇ,” hoping to demonstrate that DISability doesn’t mean INability.

Student Speaker Bridget Ann Baiardi-Gormely

Image

Bridget Ann Baiardi-Gormely (she/her) is graduating with her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, where she focused on clinical social work and trauma across the lifespan.

During her time at U-M, Baiardi-Gormely served as a career counselor intern at the Center for the Education of Women+, supporting nontraditional students through career transitions, job loss and identity shifts. She has also worked as a community advocate at Michigan Humane, where she connected clients in Detroit with resources for both their pets and themselves, deepening her commitment to equity and small-scale, meaningful impact.

Baiardi-Gormely is passionate about trauma-informed care, and plans to become a licensed trauma therapist specializing in EMDR, animal-assisted therapy and grief work. She hopes to create space for people and animals to heal in compassionate, creative ways.

In her free time, Baiardi-Gormely is an aspiring poet, an iced coffee enthusiast and a proud cat mom to six very loved cats. She would like to thank her boyfriend, Jacob, and the rest of her family and friends for all of their support!

Student Speaker Oksana Hirchak

Image

Oksana Hirchak (she/her) is an international student originally from Ukraine. She has been living in the U.S. since August 2021. Hirchak began her journey in Iowa where she completed an associate degree at community college and a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Iowa. She also holds a master’s degree in history from Ivan Franko University of Lviv in Ukraine. Before coming to Michigan, Hirchak worked for a non-profit in western Massachusetts.

At U-M, Hirchak was a 12-month student in the Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse pathway. She also earned a Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Hirchak completed her field placement at Charron Services, where she facilitated groups for male perpetrators of domestic abuse and violence. She also worked at Michigan Medicine, collaborating with the Physicians for Human Rights team to develop and refine professional training materials focused on documenting torture and abuse.

Hirchak previously lived in Beijing, China, where she taught English to adults. She loves traveling and exploring different cultures. Hirchak believes her social work degree opens the door to many meaningful opportunities and plans to begin by pursuing clinical licensure and becoming a therapist.