Boston College will celebrate its first-generation students—the first in their families to attend college—in November with a week of events and activities, highlighted by the national observance of First-Gen Day on November 8.
Launching the celebration, which is being organized by BC’s Learning to Learn program, will be a BC F1RST-GEN Week Tailgate on November 5, in partnership with BC Athletics. On First-Gen Day, the University will honor the excellence of current and past members of the Gateway Scholars and McNair Scholars programs—which support first-gen students in, respectively, STEM and graduate education—and include remarks by Vice President for Student Affairs Shawna Cooper-Gibson. Learning to Learn and the BC Alumni Association will sponsor a First-Gen Alumni Panel on November 10.
Information on these and other First-Gen Celebration events will be available at bc.edu/learning-to-learn.
“First-Gen Week is an opportunity for the University to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our first-gen students,” said Learning to Learn Director Rossanna Contreras-Godfrey. “These trailblazers carry with them the support and admiration of their families and communities into the unknown territory of higher education and their achievements reflect their commitment and courage to pursue their dreams.”
BC has enrolled an average of about 260 first-generation undergraduates each year during the past several years; 10 percent of the Class of 2025 is first-gens. The University has been named a First-gen Forward Institution, as part of a national recognition program acknowledging colleges and universities for demonstrated commitment to first-gen student success.
University Communications | October 2021