Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaden Cody.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Come from a SpelHouse family, my mother, sister and aunts all graduated from Spelman, and many of my uncles are Morehouse Men, it’s as if I was being primed to attend Morehouse from birth. So naturally, I was the child that was strongly against coming to Morehouse, but once I began exploring colleges and finally experienced and toured Morehouse for myself, not during a tailgate, I felt at home. It was the feeling of comfort while simultaneously being filled with anticipation that drew me to Morehouse. I felt for the first time, the Mystique.
When I got to campus, I was determined to create a college experience that would rival the stories I had heard over the years. I came in and as a freshman hungry to help, hungry to get involved and make my mark on the AUC. Little did I know this space was making the mark on my life, the people I have met, the organizations I have been blessed to join, the places I have gone have all be because of Morehouse and her insatiable need to better lives, and people. In the two years, I have been at Morehouse College, I have gotten to stretch and build my leadership immensely. I have served as an NSO Leader. I was the Chief of Staff for the 87th Administration of SGA. I am the Chief Operating Officer(COS) of the 89th Administration of SGA. I am the Lead Student Engagement Intern for Student Services. But above them all, I have been serving as the Director for Get on The Bus for what in the fall will be two years.
I’m most proud of this initiative because it speaks to who I am at the root of everything, a servant. Get On The Bus is a service initiative that was brought into fruition by our 85th Student Government Association President and Morehouse Alumnus, Johnathan D. Hill ’17. The mission and vision of this project is to empower young black men to reclaim their narrative. We take about 50+ Morehouse students traveling on a bus to underserved and underprivileged communities to impact the lives of young black men in those particular areas. We host a myriad of workshops around black masculinity, career development, and community transformation while performing part of our beloved “Welcome to the House” ceremony. Over the past few years, we have traveled to Washington D.C., Chicago, and most recently New York.
Get On the Bus has become a project that I am most proud to not only be apart of but to lead, because of the necessity of the work that we do. There is much discussion about the power of representation and the need for images in every space, this trip allows these students to see themselves in us. It amazes me every time that these students who have been mislabelled, and mistaken, have dreams that go beyond what society expects and many times allows, and they want so much more for themselves and their future. I am thankful for people like our Associate Vice President for Student Life, Kevin Booker C’90, Johnathan Hill C’17, Kamren Rollins C’18, and Brandon Manor C’19, who have prioritized the needs of these students and this work, and have solidified this platform and given it to me, to continue to utilize. I’m also thankful for my brothers who continue to commit their time, energy, and resources to this trip, to help grow it and impact these students’ lives. My hope is that this trip and its work continues beyond myself or anyone person and past the bounds of Morehouse, to infiltrate spaces we have yet to even think of touching. This trip explains my story because my story is tied to responsibility, my responsibility to others, to help and foster environments where Black people have the opportunity to share their stories. The ultimate goal of my life is to be a vessel, and to create space for black people to not just be at the table, but for them to create their own.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, as a college student it isn’t easy. Specifically, managing my academic life, with my leadership responsibilities and then all of the ebbs and flows that come with having a personal life, it isn’t always easy, but I would definitely say that Morehouse fosters an environment that makes doing the impossible so much more obtainable. College is widely known as a formative time for young people, a time when you come into your own, and as the first time for many being on their own and “adulting”. Attending a college like Morehouse during such a pivotal point of your life is important, Morehouse instills in you the value of working hard, not just for yourself but for your community. Morehouse has an air of expectation, we are expected to not only learn about the men who walked Brown Street before us but expand the footsteps they left on our campus and in the world. This expectation too often mistaken as arrogance is the difference between Morehouse and any other school, we know we are the best because we have no other option but to be. Morehouse builds you up and tears you down in a very particular way so that when we are done and we are Morehouse Men, there is nothing and no one that we can not face.
Get On The Bus – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Get on The Bus was brought into fruition by former Student Government Association President and Morehouse Alumnus, Johnathan Hill ’17. The mission and vision of this initiative encompasses the goal of empowering young black men to reclaim their narrative. The trip entails 50+ Morehouse students traveling on a bus to underserved and underprivileged communities to impact the lives of young black men in those particular areas. The Morehouse students host a plethora of workshops around black masculinity, career development, and community transformation while performing part of our beloved “Welcome to the House” ceremony. For the past three years, we have traveled to Washington DC, Chicago, IL, Brooklyn, NY, and recently we’ve added New Orleans, Louisiana as one of the targeted communities. Although we currently have two stops for the trip, we are constantly looking to expand our impact across the US. Listed below are the projected learning outcomes:
– Help students understand the value of a college education
– Instill the importance of financial literacy & college affordability
– Promote the importance of HBCU’s & Morehouse College’s history and traditions
– Empower students to embrace their narratives through the exercise of storytelling
– Foster and develop a relationship with participating students through continuous mentorship
Though all HBCUs are important, Morehouse has a special place that is forever etched into history because of the particular work we do. This word diversity has become one that is too often thrown around, people will misconstrue it to make it seem as if one has officially achieved “diversity” once multiple skin tones are represented. However, I’ve come to learn that while being an HBCU, Morehouse College is more diverse than many other colleges and universities in the world. Nowhere else will you be able to find a college tailor-made and full of over 2,500 men who identify as black and yet all have different interpretations of blackness and manhood and are able to project their various perspectives of that, every day. Morehouse is special because there is no other place on the planet that was made for the edification of the black man’s mind, body, and lifestyle. You can search the world ten times over and there is no place that consistently makes space for us as Black men.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment in working with this project, was when I had a student text me almost five months after meeting him and performing at his school, and ask me is it too late to try and get into Morehouse. It let me know that I was doing something right, that my goal, the mission of leaving a lasting impression was being accomplished. But even beyond that, it sparked another thought that the work we do, the words I said could’ve quite possibly just saved a black life from being another statistic, another black body stolen from the system, and handed back to the world to share his story. That made me proud.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: its.jayco
- Twitter: justjayco
Image Credit:
Ross Gordon, Austin Whyche
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