The First-Generation College Student Movement

Photo by: Gretchen Ertl/Boston Globe (Esther Maddox/Princeton, Jasmine Fernandez/Harvard, and Kujegi Camara/Princeton)

   Elite educational institutions have opened their doors to first-generation college students from all walks of life for several years now.  This increase in access to education has also led to documentation and research discussing the challenges faced by these students.  Unfortunately, institutions have not always responded adequately or swiftly to address the needs of this growing population.  Enter the game changing 1vyG.

Photo by: Charlie Mahoney/NYT (Anna Berros/Harvard)

Photo by: Dina Rudick/Boston Globe (Ted White/Harvard)

   The organization was created by first-generation, Ivy League, college students to harness the power of those similarly situated in order to support and advocate for each other.  No longer living and studying in isolation, the group is leveraging their shared reality to empower others and improve the world.  The most recent example of their advocacy is the No Apologies Initiative.  The effort’s objective is to eliminate application fees for low-income and first-generation college applicants, by the 2017-2018 application cycle, in order to increase socioeconomic diversity at elite educational institutions and eliminate a barrier to entrance for applicants.  Now, that’s a win for all involved.  

   Want to learn more about 1vyG?  The third annual 1vyG conference 'From Posts to Progress: Leveraging Social Activism to Actualize Institutional Reform for First-Generation College Students' will be taking place at Yale in late February 2017.

Photo by: Charlie Mahoney/NYT (Manuel Contreras/Brown Universitiy/1vyG co-founder)

Update:

2/20/17 at 3:20 pm.  Updated to include information on the No Apologies Initiative.

This story was originally published on 1/26/17 at 2:00 pm