LeManuel Lee Bitsóí Named Vice President for DEI at Brandeis University
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leader LeManuel Lee Bitsóí has been named by Brandeis University as its next vice president for DEI. Bitsóí was the...
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leader LeManuel Lee Bitsóí has been named by Brandeis University as its next vice president for DEI.
Bitsóí was the associate vice president for diversity affairs and special advisor to the president for indigenous affairs at Fort Lewis College, where he was responsible for campus-wide DEI programming in collaboration with other offices, faculty, staff, and students. With more than 20 years of experience working in higher education, Bitsóí is a first-generation Native American (Navajo) graduate of New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico with a master’s degree from Harvard University and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Throughout his career, Lee has dedicated himself to expanding opportunities and support for individuals of all backgrounds and identities at colleges, universities and beyond,” said Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz. “I am confident in his ability to further our efforts to ensure that every member of our community is fully supported in their efforts to achieve success at Brandeis.”
“Brandeis’ history as a university that was founded at a time when Jewish students and faculty faced limiting quotas in higher education informs our work today, pushing us to include all those who may have faced barriers to participation because of their ethnicity, religion, race or gender.” Bitsóí said “I look forward to working together with all members of the university to hold ourselves accountable to our founding values that resonate with me as an Indigenous person.”
WittKieffer’s Charlene L. Aguilar, Ed.M. and Shelley Arakawa, J.D. led this search.