Why Celebrate on November 8
FGCC is celebrated annually on November 8 to commemorate the signing of the Higher Education Act (“HEA”) of 1965 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. This act created federal financial aid programs to fund students’ educations and made key investments in colleges and universities. Many of the HEA’s programs, particularly the Federal TRIO programs, promote postsecondary access, retention, and completion for today’s limited-income, first-generation college students.
FGCC strives not only to celebrate first-gen students’ contributions to their communities but also to occasion systemic social change by dismantling barriers to first-generation student success. Through this intentional advocacy focus, FGCC engages key constituencies in building upon the work left unfinished by the HEA.
First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC) is an annual opportunity to raise awareness of the first-generation college student identity by advancing an asset-based, national narrative of these students’ experiences and outcomes.
Since the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and FirstGen Forward (FGF, formerly the Center for First-generation Student Success) hosted the inaugural celebration in 2017, hundreds of higher education institutions, corporations, government officials, non-profits, and K-12 schools have joined together in recognizing the achievements of the first-generation community on and around November 8.
https://firstgen.naspa.org/engagement/first-generation-college-celebration
With self-identified first-generation college students making up 19% (2020) of the student body, I am so thrilled that Syracuse University is hosting its first ever full week honoring National First-Generation College Celebration. The vision of this year’s celebration is to bring first-generation college students to the forefront by highlighting the first-generation experience. In doing so, we hope to not only nurture SU’s first-gen community, but also cultivate a campus climate that better understands the true intersectionality that is embedded in the first-gen experience.
During the week of November 4th through 8th, there will be two displays located on the 1st Floor of Bird Library. The book display features titles that explore the spectrum of the first-generation college student experience through first-generation college authors and researchers. In addition, there is a poster display that highlights some of Syracuse University’s very own first-generation students, faculty, and staff, as well as the history of first-generation college students in the United States. With the posters, I really wanted to give our first-generation affiliates a dedicated space to shine, as well as give them a platform to reach out to the campus whether that be connecting with other first-gens or bringing more awareness from outside of the community!
Tiffani-Marie Fite
Program Coordinator of First-Generation Programs and the Kessler Scholars Program