First-generation student cord ceremony

April 16, 2019

University Relations

Graduating first-generation students will celebrate their achievements at the first-gen cord ceremony Saturday, April 27, from 3-5 p.m. in the Signers’ Hall lobby. All graduating baccalaureate students who are the first in their family to attain a four-year degree are invited to take part in this event and should RSVP here by Wednesday, April 24. Ceremony participants will receive a teal cord to wear during the May 2019 UAF commencement ceremony May 4. Faculty, staff, students and supporters are invited to attend and enjoy light refreshments following the ceremony.

The event, co-hosted by the Nanook Diversity and Action Center and ASUAF, is the first of its kind at UAF, where approximately 45% of UAF’s bachelor’s degree students self-identify as a first-generation college student. More than 290 baccalaureate degree students in this year’s graduating class identify as first-generation.

"First-generation" has been nationally and institutionally defined as neither parent/guardian having earned a bachelor’s degree, despite any degrees attained by siblings. Many first-generation college students demonstrate key strengths, and experience unique challenges in the pursuit of a college education. These students are less likely to complete their college degree in six years than their peers, whose parents had at least some college experience (50% first-generation versus 64% non-first-generation). When these students also come from limited-income backgrounds, that statistic drops to less than a 15% chance of graduating with a bachelor’s degree by age 24.

For more information about UAF’s first-gen cord ceremony, contact Victoria Smith at vrsmith@alaska.edu.