University establishes first generation student center

First-generation students at Penn will soon have another resource to turn to for questions or advising.

In April, Vice Provost for University Life Val Swain Cade McCoullum announced the University's approval of a First Generation Low Income student program to be housed in the Greenfield Intercultural Center (GIC), according to Director of the Greenfield Intercultural Center, Valerie de Cruz. 

"We have continued to build on the wonderful momentum that students have generated and planning is ongoing over the summer," de Cruz said in an email. "The new Program will be up and running this Fall in the GIC."

The office will be a central location for first-generation students to seek advice, providing information on how to navigate institutional processes like doing research or declaring majors. The office will also serve as an outlet for school officials and student groups like PennFirst, which helps first generation students at Penn, to coordinate and develop programming.

The Committee for Diversity and Equity, which advises and reports to the University Council, recommended earlier in the year that the University establish a First Generation Office for students who are the first in their families to attend college.

“We tried to figure out what are some of the problems that first generations students face and what resources are available on campus,” 2016 Wharton graduate Ann Okhupe said. 

Okhupe was one of the undergraduate student representatives on the Committee for Diversity and Equity for the 2015-16 school year, and is herself a first generation student.

“What we realized from having conversations with … first generation students was that there’s a space that’s lacking — students don’t know exactly where to go to for them to get the resources they need to crack Penn. So that’s where the idea of having a first generation center … came into place,” she said.

While first generation students at Penn can currently find community and advice through programs like PennFirst and are able to receive more specific advice from individual pre-major or career advisors, there is no centralized location for them to turn to. Okhupe pointed out that other peer institutions already have similar offices — like Brown University, whose First-Generation College Student Initiative will be opening a new center for first generation and low-income students later this fall.

The Committee for Diversity and Equity picks a set of “charges” each year for the following year’s committee to address. This year’s committee selected from among four charges increasing the diversity of Penn’s graduate students and addressing the needs of low-income or first-generation students.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the proposal for a First Generation Low Income student program was already approved by administration in April.  The DP regrets the error.

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