As one of only 10 students in her high school graduating class to attend a four-year university, LSA junior Theresa Johnson had no idea what to expect when she set foot on campus.
However, unlike most freshmen, Johnson couldn’t call parents for first-day advice. Johnson, a first generation college student, was on her own, until an adviser introduced her to First Generation College Students at Michigan, a campus group connecting students who are the first members of their family to attend college.
Founded in 2007, the club holds events and activities for members to network and discover University resources. E. Royster Harper, the University’s vice president for student affairs, and Lisa Rudgers, the University’s vice president for global communications and strategic initiatives, and a first-generation college student herself, have spoken to the group in the past.
Johnson — who attended Kelloggsville High School, a small school near Grand Rapids, Mich. — said the club provides her with a support network of students experiencing the same uneasiness she felt when she first arrived at the University.
“We’re from schools where a lot of our students don’t usually come to universities like this,” Johnson said. “When I first came I didn’t even identify as a first gen, so this group has been really helpful.”
She said her parents and older sister encouraged her to pursue a college education, and she rose to the challenge, graduating as valedictorian of her high school class.
“My parents really pushed me and my sisters to go to college,” she said. “School was everything.”
Johnson said it can be difficult for first-generation students to interact in a university setting, since they aren’t accustomed to the system.
“Financial aid is a hassle sometimes because no one in our family has done it before,” she said. “I know my roommate’s like, ‘Yeah my parents edited my paper for me,’ and I’m like ‘My parents would have no idea how to do that.’”
Carson Phillips, an LSA junior and president of First Gens, said the club abides by “Three Rs” — raise awareness, resolve and recognize.
“We just try to present our group as a resource for other students, and support and help them,” Phillips said. “I think one of the biggest struggles for most of the first gens is the lack of a support network.”
He said one of the organization’s biggest challenges is garnering membership from students concerned about a stigma, noting that of the 1,500 first-generation undergraduates, only about 15 regularly come to meetings.
“The University focuses a lot on diversity on the racial level and on sexuality and a lot of different areas,” he said. “But I think that social class and stuff like that isn’t discussed at this University.”
Phillips said the club would like the University to recognize that diversity transcends more than just race or sexual orientation, and is largely embedded in socioeconomic status.
Greg Merritt, a senior associate director for University Housing, encouraged a first-generation student to form the club in 2007. As a first-generation student himself, Merrit recalled experiencing the same problems first-generation students do today.
“I felt it important … that I could and should give back to current first gen students and hoped that I could offer an experience that could resonate,” Merritt said.
Elise Harper, the student services manager for undergraduate and graduate programs in the Political Science department and a group mentor, said she became interested in how first gen students identify themselves during her graduate studies at Eastern Michigan University.
“I’ve heard many students say that having First Gens as a place to go, even if only to listen, made a difference in their Michigan experience,” Harper said. “Sometimes (the club) even helped them make the decision to stay enrolled when they considered transferring or leaving school.”
Correction Appended: A previous version of this article misstated that E. Royster Harper is a first-generation college student.