From kickstarting an interinstitutional rally to simplifying government documents, it's evident that Cody is a natural change-maker no matter where they go.

A rally that led to real change

“I was on a six-member team of UM-Dearborn Student Government students to get $10 million in funding for both UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint, as well as an extension of the Go Blue Guarantee to both UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint. We were worried that a simple protest that was going to be put on by the UM-Ann Arbor Central Student Government and the UM-Flint Student Government was not going to result in anything constructive. So, we worked to overhaul the structure of the protest into an interinstitutional rally and had every campus host its own press conference before the bigger rally at UM-Ann Arbor. 

“We also encouraged the other Student Governments to use data and statistics to support their points rather than pure pathos, which carried over into our conversations with members of the Board of Regents. We believe that it was our quick-thinking to intervene and overhaul the scope and ideas behind the rally that allowed for a positive impact on our students.”

A 9-month project with a long-lasting mark

“An experience that left its mark on me was leading the re-write of Student Government's governing document. This ten-month effort reduced our document from three documents of 93 pages to one document of 28 pages, increasing the accessibility of our organization and streamlining our operations to center them on helping UM-Dearborn and its students. The mark it left on me was large. I had to coordinate with over thirty people, lead two separate writing committees that edited the first and second drafts, respectively, and ensure it was satisfactory for our student body. It was quite a bit of pressure, but after nine months, and after the first draft was tabled indefinitely, it was relieving to see it done.”

From writer to director

“In Wolverine Media Network, I began as a Michigan Journal Staff Writer on American Politics, writing weekly news stories until I became the Director of Business and Finance for the entire network. During this time, I created the first-ever budget (also a combined budget and ledger workbook with a summary cover page), bringing Wolverine Media Network out of the red for the first time. I also created our internal appropriations process and invoicing system to be deployed this next fiscal year, as well as standardized our pricing model for the next fiscal year across the entire network. I led a successful effort to un-silo our files, and am currently leading an effort to inventory all of our items and launch a new public outreach campaign for Wolverine Media Network.”