FLC welcomes Lee Bitsóí

After a 20-year hiatus from the Southwest, LeManuel “Lee” Bitsóí has returned home to the Four Corners as FLC’s new Diversity Collaborative Director and Special Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs.

“First, I am Diné,” says Bitsóí. “After that, my inter-sectionality includes various other dimensions of which I am proud. Knowing where I come from is important, because that always brings me home.”

As a high school student in the Navajo Nation, Bitsóí dreamed of attending an Ivy League school but quickly found the fees associated with applying—let alone tuition— to be a huge barrier. Instead, he enrolled at New Mexico State University to pursue an engineering degree before transferring to the University of New Mexico. Upon graduation, he realized his true passion was helping students like himself and passed up an engineering career to advocate for education that is inclusive of all people.

This pathway eventually led Bitsóí to Ivy League degrees and jobs at prestigious institutions including Harvard University, Georgetown University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Bitsóí recalls the energy when he first arrived on Harvard’s campus—the buzz of collective creativity and dreams of making an impact in the world. He noticed a similar vitality at FLC combined with the collaborative energy around the reconciliation work that the college is doing about its history as an Indian boarding school.