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K-State Today

Division of Communications and Marketing
Kansas State University
128 Dole Hall
1525 Mid-Campus Drive North
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-2535
vpcm@k-state.edu

November 4, 2021

K-State joins National First-generation Student Celebration Day with week of events

Submitted by Rebeca Paz

The Office of First-generation Students and several campus partners are sponsoring weeklong activities to join a national celebration for first-generation students Nov. 8-13.

The following is the calendar of events for the National First-generation Student Celebration: 

• Nov. 8-12 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hale Library — First-Gen Stories: Podcast  

K-State Libraries and the Office of First-generation Students are partnering to capture the stories of first-generation students, staff and faculty at K-State. If you have 10 minutes to spare and want to share your story with future first-gen Wildcats, please contact Tara Coleman at tcole2@k-state.edu to set up a time to make a recording.

A member of the Libraries will guide you in telling your story, which can be archived in the Morse Department of Special Collections if you chose. Your stories help document the student experience at K-State for future students and researchers to understand what your experience was like today. If you prefer, the recordings can also be made anonymous.

• Nov. 8-12 — First-gen Coffee Special: "Proud to be First" available at any Cornerstone Campus Coffee Shop.

• Monday, Nov. 8, 4:30-5:30 p.m. at 109 Justin Hall: First-Gen Financial Well-being

Hosted in partnership with Powercat Financial and the personal financial planning department. 

• Wednesday, Nov. 10, noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom — TLC Workshop: "Engaging and Supporting First-Gen Students in the Classroom"

In this interactive online workshop, we will talk about why the success of first-generation students matters so much and why universities often struggle to meet their needs. We will discuss what instructors can do to engage and support first-generation students who may be struggling with online and hybrid/hyflex learning or experiencing imposter syndrome, among other challenges. We will also highlight the ways that we can deploy best teaching and learning practices to support our students during this strange, not-yet normal of learning with face masks, multiple learning environments and a pandemic that won't go away. 

• Wednesday, Nov. 10, 4-5 p.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union — Tri-Alpha Honorary Society's inaugural Induction Ceremony

Join us in celebrating our high achieving first-generation students at the inaugural Induction Ceremony of Tri-Alpha, a first-generation student Honorary Society.

• Thursday, Nov. 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Union courtyard: First-Generation Student Celebration

Stop by to meet other first-gen students, faculty and staff. There will be opportunities to tie dye masks, get a Proud to be First T-shirt, grab some food, take photos and join us in awarding our Proud to Be First scholarship recipients.

• Thursday, Nov. 11, 1 p.m. in the Union courtyard: Proud to Be First Scholarship Awards

Four first-generation students will be awarded the Proud to be First Scholarship.

• Saturday, Nov. 13, time TBA: First-generation student-athletes recognition at football game, K-State vs. West Virginia, Bill Snyder Family Stadium. 

Thank you to the following departments for your collaboration and generous support: Academic Achievement Center, College of Education, architectural engineering and construction science department, kinesiology department, K-State Libraries, KSU Foundation, Parents and Family Program, TRIO Educational Supportive Services and Union Program Council. 

For more information about the events or about the Office of First-generation Students please contact Rebeca Paz at rpaz@k-state.edu or visit the website

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