Celebrate WWU's First-Generation College Students Nov. 8

SAVE THE DATE!  Friday, Nov. 8 has become a day across the nation in higher education to celebrate first-generation college students. Join your colleagues and our students for a celebration to be held at 1:30 p.m.in the Miller Hall Collaborative Space with an ice cream social that will continue until 3 p.m.

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.

For more information about this event, contact Adam Haizlip at Adam.Haizlip@wwu.edu / 360-650-2853/ OM387.

For more information about the national event and the Center for First-Generation College Student Success, see its website at https://firstgen.naspa.org.