Happy First-Generation College Celebration Week!

It is officially Boston University First-Generation College Celebration Week, which celebrates the success and achievements of first-generation students across our campuses.

Boston University and the Newbury Center have marked the occasion with a week-long celebration program, full of events like workshops, social activities, seminars and networking opportunities. You can access a full list of the week’s ongoing events here.

To mark the week at Graduate Medical Sciences, we have compiled a list of resources for supporting our first-generation community, with additions from both on-campus and off-campus resources. We’ve also included profiles of our First-Generation mentors through the Community Catalyst Center gFIRST affinity group.

Additionally, don’t miss C3’s upcoming First-Generation CV and Resume Workshop, where you’ll have the chance to review your CV and/or resume one-on-one with a GMS faculty or staff member. Click here for more information and to sign up! Lunch will be provided.

Please email Sarah Rowan at srowan@bu.edu if there is another resource you’d like to see added to this list!

On-Campus Resources

The Newbury Center at Boston University

Opened in January 2021, the Newbury Center fosters the holistic success of first-generation students at Boston University, referred to as “Terrier F1RSTS.” The center offers programming and services designed to ensure that first-generation students experience the same sense of well-being, belonging, self-efficacy and academic accomplishment as their continuing-generation peers.

The Newbury Center is located on the Charles River Campus at 755 Commonwealth Ave, and it hosts frequent events here on the Medical Campus, too. Check out a full list of Newbury Center events here.

You can easily schedule a meeting with Newbury Center Director Maria Erb here or with Newbury Center Assistant Director M.C. Damm here.

The Community Catalyst Center gFIRST Affinity Group

The gFIRST community network seeks to support and advance the outcomes of first-generation college students across GMS programs. It is one of several affinity groups within the Community Catalyst Center (C3), launched in August 2021 to help students acclimate to Boston and the Medical Campus and adjust to the advanced academics of graduate school while gaining a sense of belonging early in the programs at GMS.

For more information about the Community Catalyst Center, click here.

Reach out to our gFIRST mentors!

Our gFIRST group has 12 peer and staff mentors who are available to connect, chat about their personal experiences, and offer support to first-generation students seeking community on campus. Learn more about our current mentors, and how to reach out, by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Boston University Terrier F1RSTS Advocate Directory

Terrier F1RSTS Advocates can connect with first-generation students to provide assistance, guidance and networking. Profiles are arranged by faculty, staff, first-generation ally, first-generation college graduate and first-generation graduate/professional. To connect with an Advocate, send them an email explaining a little bit about yourself and how they might be able to support you.

Access the Terrier F1RSTS Advocate Directory here.

Tri-Alpha: The First-Generation College Student Honor Society

Boston University hosts the Gamma Iota Chapter of Alpha Alpha Alpha (Tri-Alpha), a national honor society for first-generation college students that recognizes academic achievement, empowers scholarship and leadership and provides an ongoing support network. The chapter is inclusive of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, as well as faculty and staff.