Putting first-generation students first

First-generation (first-gen) college students make up a large population of undergraduates on college campuses nationwide. Lenoir-Rhyne is building a framework to ensure those attending the university find success and belonging.

About 40 percent of Lenoir-Rhyne students are first-gen, which the university defines as any student in the first-generation of their immediate family to complete a four-year degree. While first-gen students may have proud and supportive families, many need guidance about the practical parts of college that their classmates may take for granted.

“Students whose parents and grandparents have been to college already know how to speak the college language. In general, a lot of first-gen students don’t know what they don’t know. They just feel overwhelmed,” shared Teena Brooks, coordinator of first-year advising, and a first-gen college graduate herself.

“Our initiatives for first-gens at LR are taking the resources to them. They don’t have to figure out where to find support because we’re meeting them where they are.”

First-gen Fridays

The challenges for first-gen students vary widely. For example, one student may be struggling to make ends meet while paying tuition. Another might understand financial aid, but not how to approach a professor for advice on an assignment. A third may have excellent study habits, but not know that study-abroad or internship programs exist.

Because each first-gen student faces their own unique set of challenges, strategies that connect first-gens with various campus services and with each other have shown the greatest success according to Brooks’ observations and research from the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics.

As a result, First-Gen Fridays began last year. The pop-up event appears on the first Friday of each month, allowing first-gens to explore campus resources, greet program advisors from all over campus and enjoy a snack.

On September 2, First-Gen Friday returned for the 2022-23 academic year with a table in the Daniel Rhyne Building where students could drop by to meet Brooks, members of the first-gen support team from the Learning Commons, Dawn Behrend, instruction and outreach librarian, and other first-gen students.

“Our first goal was just making first-gen students more visible to people. We have a lot of first-gen students, but they often feel like they’re alone,” said Teresa Swan-Tuite, Ph.D., director of student success and retention. “Just making them aware that they’re not alone and that they are supported has made the biggest impact so far.”

Learning the lingo

Thanks to First-Gen Fridays, first-gen students on campus have been inspired to create a new club — The First-Generation Student Association (FGSA) — where first-gens can support each other and learn the language of college together. FGSA now sponsors First-Gen Friday and has partnered with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Student Life to prepare for a campus-wide celebration on First-Generation College Celebration Day, November 8.

“Being in college is something my family hasn’t done. My sister went to N.C. State, but that’s a much larger, completely different environment,” shared Melanie Mora ’25, FGSA club president. “We already have a small community at LR, and being in FGSA makes it even tighter, so we’re closer and can help each other out.”

Mora, an international business major, also advises her fellow first-gens to step out of their comfort zone, join clubs and push themselves to get into campus life.

“It’s hard to do that, but it really is one of those things where you just have to because if not, you’re not going to make an improvement within yourself — and that’s really why we’re all at LR, to make ourselves better.”