National First-Generation College Day is November 8th, and USAO is spending this week celebrating all first-gen students. This Thursday, November 7th, there will be Pizza on the Patio with President Hale from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, where they will be giving away two $1,000 scholarships, free t-shirts, and stickers. Breakfast at Dusty’s will take place Friday, November 8th, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., where students will get to meet and converse with the presidential leadership team.
“I just want students to know how proud we are of them. Being a first-gen student takes a lot of courage to make the decision to do something new, we are extremely excited that they are here, and we look forward to celebrating them this week,” Keli Monroe, Director of Student Success, said.
The Student Success Center (SSC) has put on events for first-gen students over the past few years. Their purpose is to inform first-gen students of the resources they have at USAO, including tutoring and the alumni mentoring program. Tutoring is available on the third level of the Nash Library in the SSC, and the alumni mentoring program is for students to be advised by alumni in career development. Both resources are available to all students; however, the SSC is striving for all first-gen students to know this information.
For Pizza on the Patio, President Hale and the SSC will be giving away two scholarships of $1,000, which are designated only for first-gen students. It was donated by a contributor who chose to remain anonymous.
Breakfast at Dusty’s is a new event for the SSC. This will be hosted by the president’s leadership team, which consists of President Hale and all other vice presidents on campus. The president’s team will be serving all students’ breakfast and taking the time to engage with all students.
These two events may not be the end of the celebration as the SSC is interested in expanding honoring first-gen students throughout the school year. Monroe is planning to conduct a survey for students to inform them of what they would like to see and do at these potential future celebrations.
If you are a first-gen student, be on the lookout for this survey. Contact Monroe at kmonroe@usao.edu if you have any other questions.
Aryanna Gassoway is a second-year English Education major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
