WWU’s Babafemi Akinrinade elected to the executive board of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies

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WWU's Babafemi Akinrinade elected to the executive board of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies

April 7, 2026

Mary Gallagher

Babafemi Akinrinade, director of WWU's Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, has been elected to the executive board of the national consortium of higher education centers that focus on the study of mass atrocities and human rights.

The Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies is a nonprofit organization that advances education on these issues and enables member centers to learn from and advocate for each other, said Akinrinade, a professor at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies.

"Dr. Akinrinade's election speaks to his expertise and his standing in the field," said WWU President Sabah Randhawa. "Western Washington University is fortunate to have Dr. Akinrinade on our faculty and this honor to Dr. Akinrinade brings honor to Western Washington University."

Akinrinade is a scholar of international law, human rights, the Holocaust and mass atrocities, transitional justice and political and socio-economic relations of African states. He holds law degrees from both the University of Notre Dame Law School and Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Before becoming professor human rights at Fairhaven College, Akinrinade was a member of the faculty of University of Chicago's Human Rights Program and Center for International Studies.

The appointment to the executive board of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies recognizes and encourages the good work by the Wolpow Institute, Akinrinade said.

"We hope that this collaboration will be beneficial to Western, not just on the academic side but also in our engagement with the community," he said.

Several speakers have come to Western through the university's collaboration with the consortium, including Mehnaz Afridi in January 2025 and Alexander Hinton in April 2025.

There are about 200 centers devoted to Holocaust, genocide or human rights studies in private and public colleges and universities in North America, and the consortium provides them crucial support in the face of intense political pressure, Akinrinade said.

Some of these centers have been pressured to stop their focus on racism and gender-related issues, for example, or to step beyond their academic study of human rights abuses to play a more activist role in domestic and international conflicts, he said.

"When groups are struggling to deal with these issues, they can call on the expertise provided by their fellow groups," he said.

About the Ray Wolpow Institute

The Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity is devoted to interdisciplinary undergraduate programs that advance knowledge about the Holocaust and genocide, including ethnic and religious conflict and related human rights abuses. Western is the only public university in the state with a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, with over 150 courses affiliated with the RWI. In addition to the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Minor and the Human Rights Minor, the institute also offers a wide variety of programs and lectures to the public, as well as professional development for educators and others who wish to engage in a deeper understanding of crimes against humanity, learn the critical tools to analyze and understand their underlying complexities, and become informed, active citizens who work to prevent them.

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