First-generation student cord ceremony
April 16, 2019
Graduating first-generation students will celebrate their achievements at the first-gen
cord ceremony Saturday, April 27, from 3-5 p.m. in the Signers’ Hall lobby. All graduating
baccalaureate students who are the first in their family to attain a four-year degree
are invited to take part in this event and should by Wednesday, April 24. Ceremony participants will receive a teal cord to wear during
the May 2019 Â鶹Դ´F commencement ceremony May 4. Faculty, staff, students and supporters are invited to attend and enjoy light
refreshments following the ceremony.The event, co-hosted by the Nanook Diversity and Action Center and ASÂ鶹Դ´F, is the first of its kind at Â鶹Դ´F, where approximately 45% of Â鶹Դ´F’s bachelor’s degree students self-identify as a first-generation college student. More than 290 baccalaureate degree students in this year’s graduating class identify as first-generation.
"First-generation" has been nationally and institutionally defined as neither parent/guardian having earned a bachelor’s degree, despite any degrees attained by siblings. Many first-generation college students demonstrate key strengths, and experience unique challenges in the pursuit of a college education. These students are less likely to complete their college degree in six years than their peers, whose parents had at least some college experience (50% first-generation versus 64% non-first-generation). When these students also come from limited-income backgrounds, that statistic drops to of graduating with a bachelor’s degree by age 24.
For more information about Â鶹Դ´F’s first-gen cord ceremony, contact Victoria Smith at vrsmith@alaska.edu.