Tabia Lee is a lifelong educator who rose to national prominence because of the trials she faced as a Faculty Director of a DEI department in the California Community College system. In that capacity, Dr Lee encouraged people to think critically about adopting race and gender identity ideology policies and practices, and emphasized how those practices worked to suppress inclusive collaboration, transparent and meaningful dialogue, freedom of expression, Zionist perspectives, and viewpoint diversity. These critiques earned her, an African American Woman, the charges of “white-splaining” and “white supremacy”, and ultimately subverted her tenure review process.
Despite this ordeal, Dr. Lee remains committed to educating people about the influence of ideology-in-practice in educational socio-ecological systems, specifically as it is embodied in teaching policies and practices so that we may cultivate the knowledge, skills, and moral courage required to navigate and heal the damage
For her courage to remain true to her values and defend viewpoint diversity at great personal cost, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Dr. Tabia Lee with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
