At one time in the not-too-distant past, Mouhamadou Diagne seemed destined for a career in academia. He was enrolled as an MTS candidate at HDS in Religion, Ethics, and Politics, and was on course to pursue a PhD in education. But a chance encounter with a Muslim chaplain in 2013 altered the trajectory of Diagne's career path.
After graduating from HDS on May 28 with a master of divinity degree, he now leaves for New York to begin working at Columbia University's chaplain's office, where he will spend the next year counseling Muslim students as he continues pursuing his dream of one day becoming a university chaplain.
HDS communications caught up with Diagne to discover more about his role as a student-activist, why he chose to attend HDS, and how learning in the classroom helped him learn more about himself.
HDS: What were you doing before you arrived at HDS?
MD: Before I came to HDS, I was a student of psychology and educational studies at Carleton College—at least those were the disciplines listed in my degree. I took several religion courses and was friends with practically the entire religion department, as that was an interest I cultivated during my time there.
As an engaged student-activist, I held leadership roles in a variety of cultural and religious student organizations, such as the Men of Color and the Muslim Student Association. I am very passionate about diversity and racial justice, and I worked with various members of the student body, faculty, and administration to address issues of racial and socioeconomic inequalities on campus.
Being equally passionate about religious diversity and interfaith dialogue, I was also one of a handful of chaplain’s associates, a group of students who helped foster a climate of religious understanding and tolerance through organizing interfaith discussion groups, services, and practices on campus.
HDS: Why did you choose to attend Harvard Divinity School?
MD: The post-college plans I formulated in the summer before my senior year involved me getting a PhD in education and then going on to become a college professor. However, as I embarked on the preparations for my GREs and personal statements, I began to feel that I was not yet ready to commit to a PhD program and needed more time to figure out what I really wanted to pursue.
I knew that I loved education, psychology, and religion, but I had not yet formulated a research question that I was deeply interested in. So, I decided that getting a master’s first would be the best idea. I ended up applying to four programs: two in education (at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington), and two in religion (at HDS and Union Theological Seminary).
After gaining admissions to all four programs (all the credit goes to my awesome recommenders), I picked HDS because its MTS program was the most flexible out of the four and would allow me to take several education courses to compliment my divinity school learning.
HDS: In terms of academics, what was your focus?
MD: Initially, I wanted to complete an MTS degree in Religion, Ethics, and Politics, and then go straight into a PhD program in education. However, plans quickly changed at the end of my first year when I decided I no longer wanted to be an academic and decided to be a college chaplain instead.
I came to this decision after attending the 2013 Muslim Student Association’s spring dinner at MIT. Its keynote speaker was Princeton's Muslim chaplain. Although I don't remember all of the content of his speech, I remember feeling incredibly inspired by him. As he was speaking, my eyes lit up, and I began to think that maybe chaplaincy, not academia, was the path designed for me. I felt like my academic interests in college—coupled with my general outgoing and empathetic personality—added up quite nicely to college chaplaincy.
As soon as the Muslim chaplain finished speaking, I rushed to him, introduced myself, and expressed that after hearing him speak, I was thinking of become a college chaplain. He commented that the energy he felt around me as I was speaking illustrated the kind of energy that really good chaplains emit, and that he saw great potential in me.
Although it felt amazing to hear such feedback, I wanted a second opinion, so I texted my chaplain from undergrad. She swiftly replied: "Wonderful! That fits you well," and proceeded to suggest some names of strong chaplaincy programs. After reading this response, any hesitation about being a college chaplain went away and suddenly I was completely invested in pursuing this goal. I filled out the forms to switch to the MDiv program the next day and never looked back. By the year's end, I was an MDiv student concentrating in Islam and African religions. It just felt right.
HDS: What was the classroom experience like for you?
MD: It was in the classroom that a lot of personal healing work happened. The most vivid example that comes to mind was in Michael D. Jackson's "Ritualization, Play, and Transitional Phenomena," which I took in the fall of my first year.
My final paper for this course centered on my experiences as an immigrant in the United States and about the many ways I was made to feel different, targeted, and oppressed in both my own community and outside. This paper helped me realize how many dormant traumas I still had not worked through—and I would spend the next two years working through them.
Also, Professor Jackson's course "Spiritual Care and Counseling" and "Meaning-Making" gave me the space to express my pain and be heard by a group of really kind, compassionate, and caring students and professors who helped me work through it and empower me to use it as a platform to work towards helping others deal with similar issues. Up to that point, I had been invested in doing work for the world but not on my own needs. This classroom learning helped me better understand and express my own needs.
HDS: What impact did Field Education have on you?
MD: Field Education further helped me channel my classroom learning into the vocation I chose. I spent one year as a student programming assistant in the Office of Student Life (OSL), and another year at Boston Mobilization, a non-profit that trains young people how to be leaders in their communities.
Although both have helped me strengthen the administrative and planning skills I need for a successful career in college chaplaincy, their impact was that they helped me figure out the kind of work I should be doing and how to do that work.
I learned from training high school students that my commitment towards social justice is deeply rooted in my religion—doctrinally and spiritually—especially when it came to anti-black racism and police brutality.
HDS: Is there something you accomplished while at HDS that you're especially proud of? To that end, what was the biggest challenge you faced at HDS, and how did you overcome it?
MD: I am really proud of my thesis. It allowed me to synthesize all of my ideas from my freshman year in college to the present into a solid body of work. Working on such a long-term project was arduous, and stretched me in ways I had never been before.
I wrote about how to counsel Senegalese American Muslims in New York, and I combined my knowledge on immigration, cross-cultural counseling, and race to put together this project.
Learning to remove myself from others and become intimate with my books and ideas was a big challenge for me in the beginning. But once the project was over, it was the most satisfying thing I have ever done, and I think I would not mind doing something like this again.
HDS: You have been part of the HDS Racial Justice & Healing Initiative. What was your role and why was being involved with that group particularly important to you?
MD: The advent of the Racial Justice and Healing Initiative made me so happy because I was so hungry for an opportunity to discuss matters of race in a spiritual context. I felt like, during my time at HDS, engagement with matters of race—and the resources in our religious traditions that help us address racism in our communities—was sometimes lacking. This year, I really became more conscious of how much anti-black racism exists within the Muslim community, and I decided to make that my ministry as a chaplain.
As religious leaders, we play such an important role in shaping the culture of a society, and pushing back against a racist society starts with preaching messages of love, justice, and racial equity that abounds in all of our traditions.
Trying to foster more learning and understanding of one another's hearts and faiths is simply the best way to create a more just society.
HDS: What, if anything, has changed about you as a result of your time at HDS?
MD: My experience at HDS has helped me take ownership of my trauma as a black and Muslim person growing up in Senegal and the United States. Here, I learned to use them as sources of creativity and ingenuity in my future work as a chaplain. I feel much stronger and compassionate having gone here, and I am eternally grateful for that.
HDS: Can you describe what's next for you after graduation?
MD: I will be starting a year-long fellowship at Columbia University's Office of the University Chaplain. I will be tasked with performing a variety of chaplaincy duties, which include administering a religious life fund and counseling Muslim students.
It sounds like a very neat opportunity that will serve as an excellent stepping stone towards my dreams of becoming a university chaplain.
—Jonathan Beasley