Jaden Jiggetts, a senior broadcasting and mass communication major and sports studies minor at Oswego, discusses his on-campus involvements, building community and what Black History Month means to him.
Q: How are you involved on and/or off campus?
A: The three positions I have on campus are I'm the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at WTOP-10, I'm the Director of Social Media for the Black Student Union and the Director of Programming for the African American Males Empowerment Network (AAMEN). I often go to other programs throughout the week for any African, Latino, Asian and Native American (ALANA) orgs or the umbrella orgs. With WTOP I also do nightly news for them and I also have my own show called The Bigger Picture, which was passed down to me from [alum] Matthews Frank. I host it with Kayla Moore, my cohost. I'm also a committee member on a couple of other orgs.
Q: What are some awards or achievements you've earned at Oswego that you're proud of?
A: Last year, Women's Center gave me their committee member of the year award, and that was really nice. I really appreciated it. A lot of the things I do on campus, I'm not in it for the awards. I'm in it to have a good time.
Q: Why do you choose to be so involved on campus?
A: I like to be involved on campus because being away from home can sometimes get lonely. You can get nervous, not seeing the people you're used to seeing, not being with people that you feel close with. When I first got involved that's kind of where I was at in my college life. I was in my junior year when I first got involved. It made me feel like I saw people that looked like me, acted like me, talked like me and it just made me feel comfortable. It also helped me make valuable friends along the way and on top of that, it's nice to just be involved on your campus, be able to help others and build a community.
Q: What does Black History Month mean to you?
A: Black History Month basically is about the history and transformation of African American people. A lot of people know about the hardships we've been through over the many decades, but when I think about Black History Month, I think about those hardships but I don't center those hardships. I think about how much we have evolved and transformed from those hardships. Even though society is still as messed up as it is, [we persisted] and we'll continue to as time goes on."