September is here. While temperatures are cooling down, enrollment teams are heating up. Orientations, move-in days, and the first day of classes keep schools busy; meanwhile travel season is fast approaching.
In the midst of the new semester excitement, we want to take a moment to shine a spotlight on our very own Roger Jones.
What is your role at The Parish Group?
I am the Senior Account Executive.
When did you start working with The Parish Group?
I began working for The Parish Group in August of 2017 after having been a client for a number of years at a couple of institutions along my enrollment career.
What is your favorite memory at The Parish Group?
During a photoshoot on the campus of one of our clients, there was a “white party” being thrown for the students. As it happens the day of the photoshoot was also the birthday of one of our photographers.
Once the students found out that we had a photographer celebrating a birthday, a bunch of them surrounded her and jumped up and down and they sang happy birthday and gave her a birthday tribute as only happy students can do.
There were smiles all around. It was truly a moment of genuine joy.
What has been your favorite project you’ve worked on at The Parish Group?
By far the most rewarding projects I have worked on with The Parish Group have been the campaigns we have done for Fayetteville State University and Morehouse College.
Being the partner that has been trusted to help tell the story of Fayetteville State University, Morehouse College and other HBCUs has been personally rewarding because as a black male who has made a career in higher ed, I understand the importance of representation and the notion that there is a college campus for everyone.
HBCUs are just as important and influential as PWIs and being a part of telling that story is personally enriching.
What does higher education mean to you?
To me higher ed is the first step to the rest of your life. It represents the opportunity for people to have the lives that they want to lead and the chance to affect change locally and globally.
Higher ed is not the only path to being a change agent in our world as there are plenty of successful people who do not have a 4-year degree, however education of some sort (experience or classroom setting) is key to being a productive citizen.
What would we most likely find you doing outside of work?
At heart I am a creative, so outside of work you may find me mixing resin and sourcing wood to make custom ink pens or other woodworking projects on a Friday.
Saturday morning, I may be out and about spending time behind a lens looking for interesting subject matter to photograph, while Saturday evening I may be the DJ at a wedding reception or some type of gathering.
Somewhere along the way I was bitten by the golf bug too so in between being a husband, father and grandfather I may be losing balls on a golf course before going to catch a movie on a Sunday.
