All divisions, schools, offices, and programs across IU Indianapolis are invited to participate in the celebration in whatever way they can. You might hold an event, send a special note to your first-generation students, or highlight a student or two on social media. You can even share your own story of being a first-generation student!
Join the community of faculty and staff supporting first-generation success
Volunteer
The First-Generation Committee is always looking for volunteers to help with the day of programming. If you are interested in helping, use the form below to sign up.
Promotional resources
As you gear up for the First-Generation Celebration and your unit’s events, check out the First-Generation Week tool kit. The tool kit has assets you may find useful for celebrating.
Share your experience
If you were the first in your family to graduate from college, tell us your story. We're looking to feature stories about the experiences of IU Indianapolis first-gen students, faculty, and staff.
Register your event
Do you have an event you would like to host during the First-Generation Celebration? Use the form below to ask the committee to add your event to the schedule.
The deadline to submit events is October 23, 2023.
Participation ideas
Looking to host an event or participate in the celebration? Check out these ideas!
- Host panel discussions or forums featuring first-generation members of your school to discuss their college experiences.
- Incorporate first-generation faculty experiences into classroom discussions.
- Orchestrate listening sessions by administration, faculty, and staff about first-generation students’ experiences and needs on campus.
- Distribute first-generation swag to promote your celebration events and continued opportunities.
- Host a snack break for first-generation students to celebrate their success. Invite first-generation leaders, faculty, and staff to attend.
- Kick off a brown bag lecture series for faculty to discuss topics related to classroom experiences for first-generation students and offer approaches for improvement.
- Offer resume and interview workshops with tips on how to best frame first-generation status in the hiring process.
- Send a letter or postcard to the families of first-generation students to acknowledge the university’s support of their attendance and to highlight successes.
- Create a visual display of famous or successful first-generation alumni or prominent leaders. Customize for academic spaces (e.g., Michelle Obama, Sonya Sotomayor, and Bill Clinton near law or politics spaces; Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in the business school; Common and Viola Davis in performing arts areas).