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Provost’s blog

Celebrating first-gen students, faculty and staff

It has been many years since I was the first in my family go to college and earn my bachelor’s degree. And to this day, I am still awed by the transformative power of a college degree to change lives. In fact, my college acceptance letter hangs on the wall above my desk as a reminder of this. Higher education opened doors to a career I never knew existed and set me on a path I couldn’t have imagined. 

Our connections and collaborations set an example for students

I am a first-generation college graduate, and I was deluged with questions from family members about things that they had read. I am grateful that I could be a trusted resource for them. I also understood that they did not feel comfortable talking with other people because differences in perspective were not seen as opportunities to promote learning but rather as an insurmountable division.