Last night, our office held a Pinning Ceremony for our First-Generation Graduates! Graduates at all levels – undergrad, Masters, and Doctoral – received a First-Generation pin from a staff or faculty member that has been integral in their success. Hundreds of family members came along to cheer their pioneer students along as they receive an honor for the accomplishment of being the first college graduate in their family.

First-Generation students often hear a narrative that they are students “breaking a negative cycle” in their family, or that being a First-Gen graduate means they are the first in their family to succeed in some way. While that may be true sometimes, it was abundantly clear that while students were immensely proud of their accomplishment as a First-Gen grad, they knew that their family’s help, support, and past successes led them to graduation. Students are often not leaving behind a cycle of negativity by graduating; they’re building on a legacy of family strength, just in a new direction.

I want to thank and congratulate Leah Vance-Berg, PhD for leading the charge for the Pinning Ceremony and making it such a huge success. This was only our office’s second annual pinning, but it ran so smoothly that it felt like the 15th annual ceremony, and that was all due to her incredibly hard work.