Mawine G. Diggs has gone back to her native Liberia numerous times since first coming to the United States around the age of 7, and now she’s planning the ultimate return home as the African nation’s newly appointed director general of the National Commission on Higher Education.
Diggs, president and chief academic officer of the Eastern Campus in Michigan’s Wayne County Community College District, starts her new post next week as an appointee of Liberian President George Weah. As the first woman to head the NCHE, which was established in 1989, she will oversee policy and regulation regarding all institutions of higher learning in the republic, foster national alignment and build international collaborations.
“It’s just an honor to be called back to serve,” said Diggs, who has jointly served as assistant to the chancellor for student engagement in her current job. “I’m overwhelmed, I’m humbled and I’m excited because I know my passion for education will allow me to make a significant impact in this sector.”
Liberia has a large college-age population, Diggs noted, and part of her challenge will be to lead the way in connecting citizens to post-secondary educational resources that lead to economic uplift.
The youngest of four children, Diggs came to the United States with her mother, who pursued higher education here. Liberia’s infrastructure, including schools, were extensively damaged during the country’s first civil war from 1989 to 1997. Her father died during the war.
Diggs returned to Liberia for junior high and high school, worked a couple of years after graduating and then came back to the U.S. for college.
“I was fortunate to be able to seek higher education in the United States,” said Diggs, now 36. “I never took that for granted. I always saw that as a blessing afforded to me that I had to make the best of.”
