Welcome to First-Generation College Celebration Week 2024!
Monday, Nov. 4, marks the beginning of Boston University’s 2024 First-Generation College Celebration Week, which recognizes the success and achievements of BU first-generation students across our campuses.
Each year, BU, the Newbury Center and other offices mark the occasion with a week-long celebration program, full of events like workshops, social activities, seminars and networking opportunities. Check out this year’s program of events here.
Additionally, don’t miss the Community Catalyst Center’s upcoming First-Gen Celebration Lunch and Chat, hosted Wednesday, Nov. 6 from noon to 1 p.m. in L-209. The event is chance for our first-gen community to come together, connect and chat, and share their stories. We’ll be joined by Dr. Karen Bottenfield and Dr. George Murphy, two first-gen faculty members who now mentor first-gen students across GMS. Click here to sign up!
We’ve compiled a list of resources below 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.
Email C3 at c3center@bu.edu if you’d like to add another resource to this list!
On-Campus Resources
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Learn more about Tri-Alpha here.
Off-Campus Resources
RISE First empowers first-generation and/or low-income (FGLI) students and professionals across the country to achieve their full potential with life and career advice, lists of support resources and mentorship opportunities hosted through a technology platform with online tools. It is a platform built for and by FGLI students.
Learn more here.
The Center for First-Generation Student Success, launched in June 2017, is an initiative of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and The Suder Foundation. The Center responds to and advocates for public policy in support of first-generation students and their intersecting identities. It also works directly with higher education institutions to transform the first-generation student experience, advance academic and co-curricular outcomes and build more inclusive institutional structures.
Learn more here.
gFIRST First-Generation Mentors
Click the profiles below to read more about our gFIRST student, faculty and staff mentors!










Interested in telling your story?
We want to share your stories of how your unique identities, cultures and backgrounds have influenced your time at GMS and your perspectives as students, researchers, faculty, staff and alumni. If you’re interested in participating in a Spotlight for our website, please email our Community Relations Specialist Sarah Rowan at c3center@bu.edu.
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