Student, leader, mentor, advocate.
Noa Diggs is more than just a senior at Penn State. Through her work, she is making sure that different voices are heard and represented, especially those of the Black community.
A 21-year-old student from Pittsburgh, Diggs is a criminology major with a legal studies focus. She is also pursuing a double minor in social justice and education, and women’s gender and sexuality studies. Her studies are preparing her for her dream job, which is to continue working in higher education in a student-facing or student-supporting role.
“My minors actually provide me with a more holistic approach to what I actually want my career to be now because I don’t necessarily want to go into law anymore, but I am very interested in social justice and community engagement,” says Diggs.
Diggs’ involvement in different on-campus organizations demonstrates her commitment to making Penn State more diverse and welcoming for students. At the Center for the Performing Arts, she works as an Arts Engagement Assistant. Here, she is helping to plan the student-curated show, and she also acts as a main point of contact for the other assistants.
“No day really looks the same. They definitely keep me on my toes here, which I can appreciate,” says Diggs. “I’ve learned a lot about problem-solving and communication with other departments, because there is a lot of collaboration that takes place here.”
Diggs is also a founding member of what was formerly known as the Student Advisory Council, a subset of the CPA, and has transformed it into a registered student organization: The Spotlight Collective. Here, she is the external president, and one of her main duties is to be a liaison between the organization and the CPA. Members have also been focusing on preparing for the student-curated show on April 1, which stars The Paradox.
“The main reason for creating the Spotlight Collective was because I wanted more people to have access to all that I was learning here at Eisenhower,” says Diggs.
As a professional development arts administration organization, the club also goes on trips and attends conferences. Diggs explained how they just came back from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals Conference in New York City.
“That was such a great networking experience, and it definitely introduced me to a lot of different career paths that I could pursue with arts administration and social justice,” says Diggs. “So I wanted more students to have access to that and more professional development opportunities like that.”
At the university, Diggs also works as a Community and Belonging Educator at the Center for Social Change and Belonging, a role which she has had since the spring semester of her sophomore year. In the office, she goes through a form that allows administration, faculty and community members to ask for support or advice on how to implement a social change or DEI component into their work. Diggs takes part in educational conversations, conducts research and collects data, such as measurements of “lived experience.”
“It’s a very educational role,” says Diggs.
At the center, Diggs mainly facilitates her wellness series, “Soft Space.”She created the series solely for female Black students to have a safe space where they can feel vulnerable, as they make up only about 2% of the undergraduate population.
“I definitely wanted to create a space in which was healing for them, because it can be really hard at a PWI, and so that’s something I learned how to do in a student-supporting role while also being a student,” says Diggs. “So I definitely want to continue that kind of work.”
No job comes without its challenges. She explained how for the student-curated show last year, she had to advocate for not only herself, but for the rest of the Black community as well.
The CPA was planning to bring Leon Thomas, R&B musician and “Victorious” star, to the Bryce Jordan Center for the show. For Diggs and the rest of the team, it was important to bring Thomas, since Penn State doesn’t have a lot of programming that centers Black American experiences.
“Black is not a monolith.”
After she had already sent out messages and save-the-dates, Diggs received an email saying it may not be the best idea to bring Thomas. Immediately, she began hopping on calls to make the show happen — the Black community needed to see Leon Thomas.
Diggs’ work paid off. She spearheaded the marketing, and by the day of the concert, about 1,400 tickets were sold, making it the show with the most sold tickets of the season.
Diggs felt deeply rewarded by her efforts. Not only did students from the Black community attend, but also non-student members and people from the Philly and DMV areas. Some even came up to thank Diggs after the show, saying that they needed this experience.
“We’re so unique, and I just really want the Black community to know, especially different communities within the Black community, you are seen. We’re trying to bring artists that represent you as well.”
Diggs explained that with the university mainly hosting Black artists from the rap or hip-hop genre, it has put the Black community in a box of the type of artists they expect to see. Although the Black community has greatly contributed to these genres, they are capable of more, and they have done more within the music industry.
“That’s why I advocate so much for different types of Black art and creativity to be integrated into the arts here at Penn State because we’ve just done so much, and I just want that to be displayed and represented as best as possible,” says Diggs.
Diggs’ favorite part of the work she does is the end result. She enjoys the journey as well, but seeing everything come together into a positive outcome makes her feel like the hard work was worth it.
Outside of her main activities, Diggs enjoys writing for her blog that she started for a class, which she calls “Noa’s Ark.” She mainly writes about her opinions on the current political climate, with a focus on human rights. Diggs also enjoys painting, specifically Black art that highlights Afrocentric features. She hopes to return to this hobby soon.
Dressed in a black T-shirt that reads “Black Excellence” in bold letters, Diggs radiates joy and energy. Her advice to members of the Black community is to know that your presence is important and to continue advocating to be in certain spaces, regardless of whether it makes others uncomfortable.
“Never diminish or try to dim your light, your shine, your excellence, because, honestly, it’s just going to further contribute to said environment,” says Diggs. “And a lot of space is a lot of different environments, careers — they wouldn’t be where they are today without Black creativity and Black presence.”
Through her work, Diggs is proving that it is possible to leave an impact on such a large institution. Not only is she creating a more diverse space, but she is also inspiring others to do the same.
