Hello First-Generation Students, Staff, and Faculty!
The First-Generation Student Working Group wanted to take a moment and wish y’all a Happy First-Generation Student Celebration Day! For those who don’t know, in 2017 the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Center for First-Generation Student Success launched the inaugural First-Generation College Celebration. Since then, colleges and universities not only celebrate first-generation students annually on November 8th, but also attempt to better understand the systemic barriers that first-generation students experience in higher education.
November 8th was selected intentionally to celebrate first-generation students, because on November 8th 1965 the Higher Education Act was signed into law. The Higher Education Act was created to help level out a playing field that weighed against Americans from minoritized and/or low-incoming backgrounds. Through the act, the Federal TRIO program was created providing support for low-income and first-generation student postsecondary access, retention, and graduation.
At the University of Oregon, we’ve been celebrating first-generation students in this way since 2018. In 2018, the UO PE and Recreation department coordinated our first-ever First-Generation Student Celebration. Through their work, the set the stage for the creation of the First-Generation Student Working Group, which came together and hosted the 2019 event in the EMU. This year, because of COVID-19 we are not able to meet in person and celebrate the hard work and resiliency that first-generation hold throughout their experience in higher education. Instead, we are excited to unveil our new initiative, the Faces of First-Gen.
The Faces of First-Gen is a new initiative celebrating the number of first-generation college students and graduates at the University of Oregon. Since early October 2020, the First-Generation Student Working Group has been accepting submissions from first-generation college students, staff, and faculty to be highlighted on the First-Generation Student Blog. Starting today, we’ve posted the first round of students and staff/faculty who have submitted their information and pictures. Feel free to take a look at them, and if you’re a first-generation student, staff, or faculty member feel free to submit your information here.
Lastly, please watch this year’s virtual celebration video! Staff and Faculty across the University of Oregon came together to give first-generation students across campus well wishes, tips, and reasons to be proud of their first-generation student identity!