Four African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to New Higher Education Administrative Posts

Eugene Diggs II is the new director of bands at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Most recently, Diggs served as the assistant director of bands for Morgan State University in Baltimore, where he conducted and arranged music, was the principal drill writer, and was a recruitment planner.

Diggs holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in teaching leadership, curriculum, and instruction from Gardner Webb University in Boling Springs, North Carolina. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in music education from Boston University.

Wendy Wallace was appointed director of civic engagement at Brown University in Rhode Island. She had been serving as director of engagement and development for the National Student Support Accelerator, an initiative launched at Brown’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform in 2021 to combat pandemic-related learning loss for K-12 students through high-impact tutoring.

Wallace earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and an MBA from Johnson and Wales University in Providence.

Linwood Whitten was appointed assistant vice president for student experience at Texas Southern University in Houston. He was the inaugural assistant vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Cleveland State University in Ohio. Earlier, he was director of diversity and international affairs and the Title IX coordinator at Alabama State University.

Dr. Whitten is a graduate of Alabama A&M University. He holds a master’s degree from Arkansas State University and a doctor of chiropractic degree from Life University.

Margaret Dismond Martin is the new chief of staff for the president of Virginia Union University in Richmond. She was executive assistant to the president for strategic initiatives, assistant dean in the School of Liberal Arts and Education, and an assistant professor of English at Hampton University in Virginia.

Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature at Spelman College in Atlanta. She holds a master’s degree in English literature from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and a master’s degree in higher education leadership at George Washington University.