SOS to host celebration event for Western's first-generation college students

November 6, 2020

Please join Student Outreach Services on Monday, Nov. 9, at an online Zoom event to Celebrate WWU's First-Generation College Students.

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.

An overview of the event can be found in the schedule below. You may also want to know that:

You must sign in using your WWU account
In order to be able to move freely between Breakout Rooms, you will need Zoom version 5.3.0 or later. Update here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362393-Viewing-the-Zoom-version-number

Schedule:

1:30-2 p.m.: Opening and Welcome
2–2:30 p.m.: Zoom Breakout Sessions
- College of Business & Economics
- Woodring College of Education
- Associated Students
- SOS Peer Mentors
- Education Abroad
- Relaxation Exercise
2:30-3 p.m.: Reconnect Event,Takeaways, and Closing

Zoom Address to Access All Sessions: https://wwu-edu.zoom.us/j/97921960154

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 or 360-650-7361.