I am excited to announce First-Generation Week, which will be from October 26-October 29. This is the third year that the First-Generation Student Gateway is coordinating a week of events that celebrate the first-generation student identity, allies who support them, and the resources on campus that support students. Our theme, HAIL to the Firsts, seeks to encourage pride in the first-generation identity and highlight the robust community of trailblazers on campus.
First-Generation is an invisible identity and you may not know who else is the first in their families. One of the goals of First-Gen Week is visibility. To make the week more visible, I am asking people to use the attached Zoom backgrounds next week and during First-Gen Week (October 19-29). Whether you are first-gen or not, you can help spread the word by using the backgrounds and by sharing the attached calendar. The calendar is hyperlinked to the registration page which also includes descriptions of the events. If you would like to learn more, please visit: https://firstgen.
A note for staff and faculty: I want to highlight the program on October 29, Power of Mentorship. The intended audience for that event is faculty and staff, who make up most of this listserv. In that event, you will learn about emerging research at University of Michigan about building trust with first-gen students and about the impact of mentorship on first-generation students in a virtual world.
Feel free to reach out to me at adanah@umich.edu if you have any questions.
