In February, students attended a conference at Princeton University dedicated to first generation college students at Ivy League and highly selective institutions.

This semester has been an exciting one for the First Generation Program (FGP). We hosted a mixer and invited first generation students from the greater Boston area to expand our network and create more connections with folks who share similar identities and experiences. Approximately 50 students from MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley attended, enjoying fruitful conversation over taco bowls and guacamole.

Campus Preview Weekend was a great time for members of FGP to connect with prospective students. We held an hour-long panel where members of the student advisory board were able to answer questions, share advice, and provide comfort to students and their families, acknowledging that there is a supportive group on campus for them. Our tables at the Academic Expo and the Activities Midway were a hit and we nearly gave away all of our stickers, buttons, pens, and t-shirts.

This year we are proud to announce the creation of a new First Generation FPOP tailored for first generation students, which will support first generation students in their transition to MIT. We’ve invited campus partners to attend, and we’ll be holding valuable training sessions on how to navigate MIT as a first generation student as well as diving deeper into the first gen identity.

Our student advisory board has been working hard to brainstorm and create new and exciting programs for the upcoming semester. The idea is to include more intersectionality within our programs to explore in more depth the unique and complex identity that is being first generation. We will continue our faculty lunch series and our study breaks but keep an eye out for exciting new collaborative programs!

If you know of any students who identify as first generation, and they are not on our mailing list, please encourage them to reach out to Taylor Pons, tpons@mit.edu, or to the board, fgp-student-advisory-board@mit.edu.

— Taylor Pons, Office of the First Year