First-Generation Student Success in Focus During First-Gen Week
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 30, 2020) — Every Nov. 8, First-Generation College Celebration day focuses on the accomplishments and achievements of first-generation college students. Created in 2017 by the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Center for First-generation Student Success, the nationally recognized day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965, a law created in an effort to strengthen the educational resources of universities and to provide financial assistance for students from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.
To recognize First-Generation College Celebration, also known as First-Generation Student Day at the University of Kentucky, Student Transitions and Family Programs has planned a week of events to support and honor UK students, faculty and staff who are the first in their families to attend and to graduate from college.
In honor of this weeklong celebration, below are seven things to know about first-gen at UK.
- Between one-fourth and one-third of each incoming first-year cohort is made up of first-generation students.
- Student Success has identified closing the achievement gap between first-generation and continuing generation students as a key focus area.
- UK chartered the Tri-Alpha Honor Society, a first-generation honor society, last fall, inducting 51 faculty, staff and student members. They will be honored Nov. 8.
- UK is celebrating First-Gen Week Nov. 2-7. The week concludes with the First-Gen Conference Nov. 7. Your participation is welcome.
- At UK, 150 first-gen faculty and staff advocates have joined to help support first-generation students. The program seeks additional volunteers.
- UK has been nationally recognized as a First-Gen Forward Institution, as well as being selected in the inaugural cohort of First Scholars.
- Student Transitions and Family Programs offers First-Generation Student Advising for any first-generation student.
Through programs and resources aimed at supporting first-generation students during their transition into college and during their time at the university, UK recognizes its first-gen community year-round.
“As a proud first-generation college graduate, I am honored to be part of an institution committed to first-generation student success,” said Robert Hayes, director of Student Transitions and Family Programs. “Our first-generation students are a key part of the tapestry that is the University of Kentucky student identity, and I am excited about the work we are engaged in.”
Advocating for first-generation students within their colleges and through collaborations with divisions across campus, Student Transitions and Family Programs hopes to ensure first-gen students are equipped with the tools necessary to succeed at UK and beyond.
“First-generation students at the University of Kentucky and across the country are taking new risks, accepting new challenges and are on their way to be the first in their family,” said Martina Martin, associate director of Student Transitions and Family Programs. “As a first-generation graduate, I applaud their efforts and am here to support and celebrate with them.”
For a full list of events taking place during First-Gen Week, click here.
To learn more about first-generation students and the resources offered to support first-gen students, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.