University of Washington, Tacoma's First-Generation College Celebration
November 8

2020 First-Generation College Celebration

This year, the office of First Generation Student Initiatives at the University of Washington (UW) Tacoma will celebrate their 4th Annual National First-Generation College Celebration by hosting a series of virtual events throughout the week.

On Monday, November 2nd we invite the UW community to attend our speaker presentation as part of the career exploration sessions called "Your Career Journey." Our guest speaker, Jessica Thomas, MSW, will share her story on career planning/identification and the role of positive group supports as a first-gen and veteran-affiliated alumna. This event is a collaboration with the Office of Career Development and Education.

Our next event on Tuesday, November 3rd is a workshop on "Virtual Salary Negotiation." Participants will learn how to appropriately prepare to negotiate their salary and tips and tools to help them succeed. This event is also a collaboration with the Office of Career Development and Education.

Friday, Nov 6th, UW Tacoma celebrates their 4th Annual National First-Generation College Celebration by honoring first-generation stories. During this event we reveal our 4th Annual “We Are First Generation” stories campaign. Here we feature the voices of first-generation college students, faculty, staff, and alumni from UW Tacoma. All selected stories will be shared with our UW Tacoma campus community.

View First Generation stories from previous years here.

2019 First-Generation College Celebration

UW Tacoma will commemorate National First-Generation College Celebration by hosting a series of events throughout the week of November 4, 2019. The main event is on Friday, November 8, 201,9 and will feature a keynote address from Bernard E. Anderson, Ph.D., UW Tacoma Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life.

A new series of “We are First-Generation” campaign posters will be unveiled at the event. These posters showcase the voices of first-generation college students, staff and faculty at UW Tacoma. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to sign their pledge as first-generation students to finish their four-year degree.

To promote Friday’s celebration, faculty and staff on all three UW campuses who were first-generation college students have been invited to wear “I Am First-Generation” buttons. First-generation students comprise an impressive 56 percent of the undergraduate enrollment at UW Tacoma. As a university we take great pride in supporting their experiences within our community.

For the latest updates on this celebration, follow @first.gen.fellows on Facebook and Instagram and use #FirstGenUWTacoma to show your support!