Kysha Hancock, the 78th Miss Morgan State University, knew since she was a freshman that she wanted to serve in this position. 

When Hancock was a freshman, Erica Knox, the 75th Miss Morgan State University, left a lasting impression on her and inspired her to pursue the position years later. Her reign as Miss Sophomore and Miss Junior opened the door for her to serve in the highest position of campus royalty.

As Miss Morgan State University, a position established in 1945, Hancock’s job is to represent the university on a national level. Alongside Miss Morgan State University, serves Mister Morgan State University, a position established in 1988.

Natasha Lewis-Williams, executive director of the Office of Student Life and Development, said, “Mister and Miss Morgan State University are the official host and hostesses of the National Treasure.”

“Serving as national ambassadors for the University, Mister and Miss Morgan State University have represented the core values by participating in national pageants like the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Pageant and the Mister HBCU Pageant,” Lewis-Williams said.

While running for Miss Morgan State University, Hancock’s campaign slogan was “Don’t be clueless, find your trueness.” 

“I also twisted it in a way that will be able to help Morgan students, so ‘Don’t Be Clueless, Find Your Trueness’ basically means that I’m helping students to find their passion throughout college so that they feel like their college experience wasn’t a waste,” Hancock said.

Hancock aims to use her position to make the student body, especially seniors, aware of opportunities that are available after they graduate. Hancock’s events and services this year will be heavily catered towards career readiness. 

She plans to host a “connection kickback” where students will meet different companies that specialize in different majors and have their resumes reviewed.

Hancock is also planning an etiquette class, mixed with career readiness, where students will learn how to talk professionally and sell themselves so that they may be presented with more professional opportunities. 

Overall, Hancock wants to leave a lasting impression on Morgan students. She also recognized that a lot of freshman and other younger female students look up to her for guidance through their matriculation.

“Being the Miss of your university, you are the face, you are the inspiration, so I just honestly want to be remembered as just very impactful. Like three years from now, I hope that I’m a Miss Morgan that people are still talking about,” Hancock said. 

Alongside Hancock is Ehidiame Akojie, the university’s 35th Mister Morgan State University. 

Like Hancock, Ehidiame Akojie was inspired by the Mister Morgan State University his freshman year, Monley Julien. 

Julien’s way of embodying the essence of what Mister Morgan State is inspired Akojie and encouraged him to believe he could, someday, do that as well. 

Akojie’s campaign was “Coming of Age.” It focuses on mental health awareness, leadership development, and bringing together the Morgan community. Akojie feels that these things help students have a successful matriculation at Morgan. 

Earlier this school year, Akojie hosted his first event as Mister Morgan called “What’s the Tea?” 

As a tea enthusiast, Akojie used his personal interest to curate an event where students would be able to talk about campus issues, world issues, and the impact of society on gender roles, but also feel relaxed in the space.

Akojie is planning events for next semester that will focus on leadership development and mentorship programs. 

As Mister Morgan State, Akojie is tasked with representing the school on a national level, but he is hoping to leave a lasting impact on the students currently studying here. 

“I want my Morgan State students to remember that they can be as confident as they want to be in order to be as successful as they want to be.”

Akojie has a quote he lives by which states, “You’re afraid that what you’re meant to become is going to take you away from what’s familiar.”

Akojie said, “And I live by that because it’s important that you let yourself, you know, be able to become what you need to become just so it takes you away from what is familiar because being stagnant and being complacent is not a good thing. You want to continue to evolve to become your best self.” 

This past summer, Mister and Miss Morgan State University, along with members of the Student Government Association, attended the 25th Annual NASAP Student Leadership Institute Conference.

The conference, which is dedicated to teaching newly elected HBCU student leaders the fundamentals of leadership, was hosted at Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia.

Akojie and Hancock aim to serve their Morgan community the best they can. They want to leave a lasting legacy on the students, and university, that will be remembered for years to come.