Cody Parish serves as the Program Director of the Chancellor's Leadership Class and UCCSlead. His mission is to be a resource for leadership development for all UCCS students no matter where they are in their college careers. More than anything, he enjoys getting to know students and connecting them to opportunities both on and off campus that will help them grow and achieve their goals.

Originally from Texas, Cody spent several years working in honors education at Midwestern State University prior to coming to UCCS. There he was somewhat of a jack of all trades, supporting his students as an advisor, event planner, office assistant, recruiter, and instructor, among other roles. Achievements he is most proud of include developing a tiered scholarship structure to expand funding to more amazing students; designing and implementing a student subcommittee system that reinvigorated the program's sense of community; instituting an annual Halloween party, featuring a pumpkin carving contest, witches brew contest, and candy corn toss; reviving the program's commitment to community service through hosting blood drives and establishing an honors community garden, the crops from which continue to be donated to the campus food pantry; and contributing his blood, sweat, and tears (well, really just a little sweat) to building the 1st place honors program cardboard boat in the Spring 2021 StangFest boat race.

While during the day Cody works within leadership studies, he moonlights as a horror studies and children's literature scholar. His favorite film is It Follows (2015), and he's always willing to chat about anything horror--but also pop culture more broadly. He enjoys finding new haunted houses, reading a good comic book, listening to music, and learning new things. Oh, and he's the co-advisor for the UCCS Fellowship of Game Enthusiasts, which meets on Saturdays in the Student Life Lounge from 1-4PM (shameless plug).