Student Success Services
Dept. 3808
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY. 82071
Knight Hall, Room 330 (Main Office)
Phone: (307) 766-6189
Email: sss@uwyo.edu
National First-Generation College Student Celebration Day is recognized annually on November 8th. TRIO at the University of Wyoming is proud to recognize our first-generation students for all of their hard work and dedication!
The term "First-Generation" refers to a student whose parents/guardians do not have a bachelor's degree and who are among the "first generation" to attend college. Recent statistics calculate that approximately 30-40% of UW's student population is first-generation!
Dr. Fuji Adachi is credited with coining the term "first-generation" in 1979. In an unpublished study titled, "Analysis of the first-generation college student population: A new concept in higher education," he applied the term to students whose parents did not have a college-level education. The term first-generation is still used by the U.S. Department of Education today.
Dr. Adachi was a mathematician and the very first program director of Student Educational Opportunity, the department at the University of Wyoming that now houses five federal TRIO programs, as well as, GEAR UP Wyoming. He is also a past president (1977-78, 1980-81) of ASPIRE Inc., a professional organization for more than 140 TRIO programs across Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah.
Today, you can find Dr. Adachi at Laramie County Community College as a mathematics instructor.
The Center for First-Generation Student Success highlights:
First-Generation College Celebration, or 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.
At a fall networking event and 2023 celebration for first-generation students at the University of Wyoming, we wanted to help “Build Your First-Generation Community."
Students heard presentations from six different speakers that each shared stories and insights from their own first-generation journey. The group talked about the importance of having a community in college and after.
Free refreshments and warm drinks were served while students connected with other first-generation students, faculty, staff, and community members.
Being the first in your family to attend college is an exceptional accomplishment, and we aimed to celebrate that achievement with students!
Michael Wade
Assistant Director, Student Educational Opportunity
Jenna Krieschel
Program Coordinator, Mathematics & Statistics
Angela Davis
Program Coordinator, Student Success & Graduation
Angel Mora
SAFE Project, University of Wyoming
Lucus Hansen
Major Gift Officer, UW Foundation
Fox Nelson
Anthropology, University of Wyoming
Student Success Services
Dept. 3808
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY. 82071
Knight Hall, Room 330 (Main Office)
Phone: (307) 766-6189
Email: sss@uwyo.edu