Mount Saint Mary College honored its first-generation students with First Generation Celebration Day on November 8.
“First year students are serving as pioneers for their family and are paving the way to academic success for not only themselves, but also the generations that will come after them,” said Brianne Thompson, director of Student Advising in the Mount’s Office of Student Success and co-coordinator of the Knight Summer Connections Program.
The event was held in early November in honor of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This Act created many opportunities and programs that promoted college access, retention and completion for students of an underserved background, many of whom are also first-generation college students.
The celebration was sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Office of Student Success; the Office of Student Engagement; Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP); and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP).