UK Welcomes 2011 First Scholars to Campus

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 7, 2011) — When 100 percent of last year's First Scholars returned to the University of Kentucky as sophomores this fall, First Scholars Director Matthew Deffendall knew the reason had to be more than the free food, cool T-shirts or even the new lounge where students can study, socialize and ask questions right outside of his office in Funkhouser.

"We've created a community for students," he said of the first-generation college student program's success. "We have created a place where students feel comfortable. We're that safety net here to get them through the initial challenge."

UK has welcomed back all of last year's First Scholars, while also ushering in a new class of 20 from around The Commonwealth.

UK freshman Christen Pendleton has aspired to be a student at UK since she was 8 years old. 

"I worked hard all through school just to come here," she said. "UK was the only school that I even wanted to apply to, and I cried tears of joy when I got my acceptance letter in the mail."

Pendleton appreciated the immediate support she received from First Scholars upon her campus arrival. "That's really what this is: a support group," she said. "I hope that all of the First Scholars become closer in these four years and make use of all the amenities that are provided for us," she said.

"My goals are to provide for my loved ones and give them a better life than what I had," added freshman Jonathon Stacy. "First Scholars will provide me what I need to graduate."
 

The First Scholars program, launched with a $1.1 million grant from the Texas-based Suder Foundation last fall, aims to raise graduation rates among students whose parents have no education beyond high school.

The grant provides each student with a partial scholarship, peer mentoring, additional academic support and campus involvement activities to help them stay in school and graduate.

According to Deffendall, this extra support is exactly what first-generation students need.

"One of the things in my research that has stuck with me is that if you remove all other factors — socioeconomic, gender and ethnicity — just the fact that a student is a first generation puts that student at risk," Deffendall said. "The research shows that first-generation students lack the 'college student role' — the knowledge of how to make it in the system. They are missing that skill set and support mechanism."

"I didn't know anyone when I got to campus last year," said UK sophomore Jessica Foster, a psychology and family science major from Owensboro. "Being able to connect with people and receiving help to stay on track was a great help."

"I was really homesick when I arrived," added sophomore Brandy Denton, a special education major from Louisville. "I really don’t know if I would have stayed without my peer mentor or the First Scholars program."

First-generation college students, who represent one in five incoming UK freshmen, lag behind the general college population in graduation and retention rates.

Of the class that entered in 2006, the first year such data was collected at UK, 59 percent of first-generation college students were still at UK in their third year, compared to more than 68 percent of the general student population. By 2008, over 63 percent of first-generation college students were still at UK in their third year.

"We need to do more as a campus to support first-generation students," said Deffendall. "We need to connect students to faculty and to other students who are like them."

The First Scholars program will pair each student with a peer mentor, an upperclassman who is also a first-generation student. Foster can't wait to serve as a mentor next year.

"Probably one of my biggest challenges was meeting people, stepping out of my home space and going to such a big school," she said. "My peer mentor group is really close; we've become great friends."

This extra support is what Eric Suder envisioned when his foundation singled out first-generation students for the grant.

"First generation defines the kind of person I want to reach," he said. "If you have a parent who may not have finished high school, you've had very little grooming, very little preparation. Just to have these students apply and be accepted is a huge step."

Suder wants the First Scholars program to help first-generation students continue on that initial success. He would like to see the program become a national model. To get started, the Suder Foundation took applications from 56 colleges and universities.

UK was one of only two schools to receive Suder's grant in 2009. Existing programs like Robinson Scholars, Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors (AMSTEMM), Student Support Services, and the Center for Academic Resources and Enrichment Services (CARES) all demonstrated UK's commitment to student success and helped put UK at the top of the list.

"This population is at-risk for not being retained, and it's in our mission to keep them here," said Deffendall. "Judging by this year's numbers, we're improving."