Celebrate WWU First-Generation College Students on Nov. 9

SAVE THE DATE!  This year Student Outreach Services will host an on-line celebration for first-generation college students on Monday, Nov. 9, as the traditional day to celebrate, Nov. 8, falls on a Sunday. The event will run from 1:30-3 p.m., and Student Outreach Services invites WWU colleagues to join in the celebration via Zoom.

We will take this opportunity to highlight the experiences of the different intersections that comprise our first-generation college students including, but not limited to, racial and ethnic minorities; sexual and gendered minorities; socioeconomic minorities and beyond.  Let us also celebrate the challenges we as first-generation college faculty and staff have, with the intersections of our privilege and oppressions as students, now serving as college-level professionals.  This celebration will be a time to demystify what we think we know, of and about first-generation college students, and may actually not know. Celebration of WWU first-generation college students leads to a stronger community.

Why do we celebrate on Nov. 8?  This date was selected for the annual First-Generation College Celebration to honor the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965.  The Higher Education Act (“HEA”) emerged out of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.  Much like other hallmark legislation of that era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, HEA was intended to help level a playing field that for too long had been weighted against Americans from minority and low-income backgrounds.  In addition to creating federal grants and loan programs to help students finance their education, the legislation made key investments in institutions of higher education.  Additionally, HEA ushered in programs, particularly the Federal TRIO programs, necessary for postsecondary access, retention, and completion for low-income, potential first-generation college graduates (https://firstgen.naspa.org/engagement/first-generation-college-celebration/first-generation-college-celebration).  

For more information about this event, contact Joan Ullin at ullinj@wwu.edu / 360-650-7361.