{"id":60044,"date":"2025-11-07T15:23:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60044"},"modified":"2025-11-07T15:23:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:23:25","slug":"emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU celebrates its first-gen students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>EMU observed First-Generation College Celebration Day with tasty treats and giveaways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Friday, Nov. 7, outside the University Commons, EMU staff members handed out hot cider, fresh doughnuts from Strite\u2019s, and raffled off a colossal 12-inch doughnut. EMU students who identify as first-generation, meaning neither parent nor guardian earned a four-year college degree from a U.S. institution, could pick up free First-Gen T-shirts and keychains.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60055\" style=\"width:350px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07151757\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-002.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>The celebration included a raffle to win a giant 12-inch doughnut.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstgenforward.org\/our-initiatives\/advocacy-and-policy\/first-generation-college-celebration\">First-Generation College Celebration<\/a>, held on and around Nov. 8, brings together hundreds of colleges and universities across the country to recognize the achievements of the first-generation community and raise awareness of the unique challenges first-gen students face. The day commemorates the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, which created federal financial aid programs to fund students\u2019 educations and made key investments in colleges and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMU is a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2024\/emu-recognized-for-commitment-to-first-generation-college-students\/\">FirstGen Forward Network<\/a>, which recognizes schools that display a demonstrated commitment to improving experiences and advancing success for first-generation college students. According to EMU\u2019s annual <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-reports-double-digit-growth-in-new-undergraduate-students\/\">fall census numbers<\/a> from Sept. 8, 48% of first-year undergraduate students identify as first-generation college students. That figure is a 13% increase from last fall\u2019s numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tara Kishbaugh<\/strong>, dean of faculty and student success at EMU and a first-generation college alumna herself, said the celebration aims to elevate the experience of first-gen students. &#8220;They&#8217;re highly capable, highly driven, super courageous, and don&#8217;t necessarily know who to ask for advice or insight,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We want to remove that stigma about seeking help and show them they&#8217;re not alone.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>EMU\u2019s First Generation Working Group includes Tara Kishbaugh, Jonathan Swartz, Yeimarie Lopez, Trina Nussbaum, Tyler Goss, Luke Litwiller, Dawn Neil, Deanna Reed, Celeste Thomas, and Annalise Livingston.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EMU observed First-Generation College Celebration Day with tasty treats and giveaways. On Friday, Nov. 7, outside the University Commons, EMU staff members handed out hot cider, fresh doughnuts from Strite\u2019s, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU celebrates its first-gen students<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":60054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14715,17562,17564,4513,14139],"tags":[18661,18663,18155,18662,18642,10294],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-60044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-digest","category-events","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","tag-first-gen","tag-first-gen-students","tag-first-generation","tag-first-generation-college-celebration-day","tag-student-success","tag-tara-kishbaugh","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EMU celebrates its first-gen students - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU celebrates its first-gen students - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EMU observed First-Generation College Celebration Day with tasty treats and giveaways. On Friday, Nov. 7, outside the University Commons, EMU staff members handed out hot cider, fresh doughnuts from Strite\u2019s,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T20:23:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07150839\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-010.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\",\"name\":\"EMU celebrates its first-gen students - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07150839\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-010.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T20:23:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-first-gen-students\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07150839\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-010.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07150839\/20251107-First-Generation-College-Celebration_MM-010.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280,\"caption\":\"EMU celebrated first-Generation College Student Day on Friday, November 7, 2025 with donuts, hot cider, and a raffle for a giant donut. 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