From the halls of Medgar Evers College to creating change at Carnegie Hall, Lisa Diaz is proud to be Medgar Made

By David Gil de Rubio | dgilderubio@mec.cuny.edu

For Lisa Diaz, Class of 2008, Medgar Evers not only provided her with a Magna Cum Laude Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, but it gave her a real sense of self as the daughter of Guyanese and Trinidadian immigrants. 

But before Diaz was to enroll at Medgar Evers College, the Edward R. Murrow High School graduate had some preconceived notions about the school she needed to overcome before she became an undergraduate. Among them was the idea that MEC was a two-year school and concerns that potential employers might not take her degree seriously. Those impressions were quickly dispelled by academic advisor Kirt Robinson.

“My grades were extremely high, I graduated high school early and I felt Medgar Evers College was not the school for me,” Diaz admitted. “I told Kirt Robinson that I was not looking to extend my high school experience, especially if people were not going to take my degree seriously. Then he asked me why wouldn’t people take my degree seriously and he then showed me all the degree options at Medgar Evers College. 

“He also sent me stats debunking everything I was questioning. He sent me stats about the school’s graduation rates, where the professors came from and what they were teaching. He sent stats upon stats. I told him I’d enroll. It was a beautiful experience being there.” 

It was this kind of unexpected cultural awakening that paved the way for her to eventually land her current position as manager of social impact programs at Carnegie Hall. 

“Medgar Evers College definitely opened up my eyes because it changed my perspective,” Diaz said. “I didn’t expect [Medgar Evers College] to teach me more about the Black experience, which I didn’t get in my earlier education. It was the complete opposite. It was almost like I had to relearn certain things. It was like, ‘Wait a minute — they never covered these topics. What’s going on?’ That was my experience.” 

While Diaz’s Medgar Evers College experience started out with her only taking night classes due to her full-time day job, she eventually worked in the SEEK Department. It not only provided her with an internship with a Staten Island foster care agency that strengthened her passion for advocacy, but gave her the opportunity to take in the pearls of wisdom being dispensed by former MEC president, Edwin O. Jackson, at many of the speeches he gave to the student body.  

“Once I started to work on campus, I was able to see a little bit more, attend different graduation ceremonies and different talks that Dr. [Edison O.] Jackson used to hold,” she said. “All of his old speeches — he would end with, ‘If your mind can conceive it and your mind can believe it, then surely we can achieve it.’ It’s something I take with me to this day.”

And while Diaz’s post-graduate experiences include a social service supervisor at Women in Need, Inc. (the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing to homeless families in New York City) and a discovery expediter at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, her current landing place at Carnegie Hall is where she’s been able to combine her love of the arts with advocacy. 

Medgar Evers College provided her with the inspiration to further her education and earn a Master’s Degree in Museology/Museum Studies at CUNY School of Professional Studies.  

“People ask me why I did that and what I was doing with that degree,” Diaz said. “They didn’t really understand what it was, but I knew that I needed to bridge the social aspects of serving the underserved populations, which is what I was already doing. And letting them know that there is a place in art spaces for them to allow them to see their narrative.” 

No surprise that Diaz would still choose Medgar Evers College as her starting point if she had to do it all over again thanks to the sound education she got. Becoming Medgar Made is what’s allowed her to not only survive, but thrive in her current role.  

“I feel like a lot of my personality was developed at Medgar Evers College and it gives me a sense of pride,” she said. “It definitely helps me to have confidence and to present my best self and to be comfortable in who I present, no matter what space that I’m in. That I can go into a boardroom or a community center and allow people to be comfortable with me by being just who I am.”  

“When I was working at the SEEK Department, I was working with a lot of young people that didn’t think college was for them. It allowed me to help nurture them and dispel any feelings they may have had about being there. 

“I feel being Medgar Made helped make me more confident in myself being in these different spaces.”