Dr. Raul Fernandez has more than a decade of diverse experience in higher education. He is a well-recognized leader and accomplished speaker on issues of diversity and inclusion, with hundreds of faculty, staff and students at numerous campuses and conferences having attended his workshops.

Raul’s signature workshop, Blind Spots, challenges participants to examine their background, beliefs and biases while identifying areas where they can do the work and grow. He’s facilitated versions of Blind Spots for deans, faculty and administrators, high school teachers and tutors, resident assistants, campus activities boards, and orientation leaders. He’ll be facilitating more workshops this summer for students and staff at Yale University, MCPHS University, and Fisher College.

Raul previously taught courses in Speech and Communication at Miami-Dade College, and has taught a section of BU’s First Year Experience course for the last five years. He also co-developed the curriculum and taught a Boston University course on Identity, Inclusion & Social Action. The course helps students to examine systems of oppression and identify opportunities to work toward social justice. In addition to teaching his own section, Raul developed the module on Race, Ethnicity and National Origin, with a focus on the causes and impact of implicit bias

Raul’s expertise also includes engaging students in transformative social justice experiences, having led such trips to Haiti, Honduras, Israel and Rwanda. While working at BU’s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, he also developed a 10-day social justice retreat to Washington, DC where students explored the interplay between those who advocate for and those who legislate social justice issues.

In 10 years at BU, Raul has chaired or served on numerous committees including the Campus Activities Team, Alcohol Task Force, Scarlet Key Selection, Multicultural Weekend, Student Affairs Management Conference, Social Media Communicators and the University Retention & Engagement Committee.

Raul has been active in NASPA for several years, including a stint as the regional Latinx Knowledge Community Representative. He also served as a panelist on last fall’s NASPA Careers in Student Affairs Month webinar, and as a panelist at the Latinx Knowledge Community’s national pre-conference.

A first-generation college graduate, Raul holds degrees in Communication and Nonprofit Management, as well as a doctorate in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. His dissertation examined the comments of 143 Student Trustees transcribed in Board of Trustees meeting minutes at the University of Massachusetts, from 1969-2015. It sought to demystify one way that students can engage in institutional governance and policymaking at the highest level.