Kendall Cornelison Camp is a communication studies major from Modesto, Calif. During his time at Morehouse, Kendall held roles in HBCUvc; Student Ambassador Program; Morehouse Business Association; Morehouse Protégé Program; the Dorm Room Fund; WSTU Radio; and Lambda Pi Eta Honors Society. This year, Kendall was on the 1st place winning Morehouse team in Zillow's HBCU Housing hackathon in fall 2021 and the 3rd place team in the HBCU Battle of the Brains in Austin, Texas in March 2022. After graduation, Kendall will move to Seattle, Wash. for a product marketing manager role at Microsoft.
“I chose to pursue a career in the field of marketing in the technology industry because I wanted to combine my interests in storytelling, psychology, and technology all together. Technology is embedded in our lives more than ever, and I’m fascinated by how those products and services are marketed to consumers and enterprises. I also aspire to keep podcasting and moderating events as I love interviewing and learning people’s origin stories and backgrounds. I have an interest in venture capital as well as I believe venture capital funding for underrepresented founders can help close the racial wealth gap in America. I hope the experiences working in technology and being a marketer can make me a great venture capitalist investing in emerging technology companies. Lastly, I aim to pay it forward by becoming a professor at Morehouse College in the future, hopefully teaching a class on professional development, podcasting, or venture capital.”
Kendall’s biggest obstacle was moving 2,400 miles away from his Northern California home and starting at Morehouse College with no connections. “While the experience was challenging, it pushed me to get out of my comfort zone by joining clubs and learning how to be an adult away from my family. After several changes of my major, I found my background in communications makes me a strong marketer and interviewer. It makes me a good venture capital investor, as well as I know how to communicate effectively with founders and network well. I learned I did not need a Business Administration degree to have a career in the world of business, and I wish more students had known this earlier.”
One of Kendall’s most fulfilling experiences was creating his podcast “Privileged Black Kids,” which is about uncovering the advantages of Gen-Z and Millennials of color and how we can use our diverse backgrounds to uplift our communities. “With more than 50 episodes, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing students, media professionals, and entrepreneurs all around the country. Some of my favorite interviews are Morehouse alum and former Complex News anchor Brandon Jenkins and president of Morehouse, Dr. David Thomas. I also enjoyed learning from my peers in classes and outside of the classroom. The speakers at Morehouse brought me immense joy during my time at the college. I saw people speak from the likes of Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee, and Jaylen Brown. Seeing incredible people speak on campus inspired me to strive to be great as well. [Additionally], I loved traveling for some of the best corporate pipeline programs in New York, competing in hackathons, and showcasing the skills I learned at Morehouse in other environments. Out of all the organizations and clubs I was a part of, I most enjoyed the student ambassador program. Giving tours to children, prospective students, and parents made my day. I loved seeing the excitement and smiles on people’s faces when they heard so many of the positive things happening at Morehouse.”
As Kendall prepares to step out into the world, he understands a “Morehouse Man” to be “someone with the intention of always finding ways to assist their community. Morehouse showed me examples of how to stay disciplined, build good habits, and always remember your work is bigger than yourself. In my opinion, Morehouse men are diversified in many ways, but the mission of leading lives of leadership and service is embedded in all of us.”
Kendall attributes his success to his own genuine curiosity, self-awareness, and resilience to get better every day as well as his strong support system including family, friends, and mentors. “My family is essential as my mom and father are both Morehouse and Spelman alumni; class of 1991. They taught me the value of working hard, and because we moved around a lot while I lived in California, it taught me how to adapt to different environments. I also want to thank Morehouse College, which provided me with brothers who strived for excellence and upperclassmen and alum who guided me to explore my options to achieve my personal and professional goals.”
When asked to give advice to students considering attending Morehouse, Kendall tells the young men to “take a step back and look at the type of person they want to be in 20-30 years and track a path on where they think they can receive the best education, mentorship, and resources for a Black man to achieve those goals. Morehouse is not perfect, but it does have a community that guides and motivates Black men to achieve their goals. For those who come to Morehouse, I would tell them to lean into things they are most interested in and block out some of the noise of what they feel they are supposed to be doing at this age. I would also highly advice freshmen not to focus heavily on GPA. I have learned personal projects and making an impact in your definition often can stand out more than just having a high GPA. My final tip for incoming first-year students is don’t seek a title. This can often lead to a dead-end and forgetting why you want the title in the first place. Don’t feel you have to be on the board of a club or president to make an impact. My impact was made by creating my podcast and sharing those stories with the world. I learned it’s okay to try different ways to help your community.”
