Are You a First-Generation College Student?

And...if you are...is that good?

First-generation college students are those students whose parents have not completed a 4-year college degree. AND YES, THAT'S A GREAT THING!

Why? -- Because there is a program designed with you in mind!

Many smart and talented first generation students benefit from additional information and support as they begin to adjust to the college environment. It can be helpful to learn more about what other first-generation students have experienced as well as what can be done to maximize your performance and experience as you work towards attaining your college degree.

Eureka College’s First Generation Program helps YOU, the student, build confidence to meet the new expectations and challenges of coming to college. Our program is designed specifically to develop social opportunities that provide support and attention from EC faculty, staff, and fellow First-Gen students. You’ll join in activities that will inspire you through interaction with cultural events and the arts. You’ll share events with professors, staff members, and fellow classmates throughout the academic year – many in Chicago, St. Louis, and beyond!

The First-Generation Year Long Program

Events and Sessions for the 2011-2012 year

First-Generation “Early College’ Program: August 4-6

The First-generation “Early College” program in the Humanities and Arts is the first event in a
year-long series that will help you explore all aspects of the college and give you the support you need to succeed at Eureka College.

The program focuses on exploring the humanities and arts. First-generation students often arrive at Eureka College intending to pursue “practical” majors such as education or business and many of these students will major in these or other pre-professional majors. However, Eureka College believes that have a responsibility to show our students how a liberal arts education prepares them for their careers and the inevitable changes they will experience during the course of their careers.

In workshops, small group discussions, and over meals, the students will interact with faculty members in the humanities and the arts and discuss questions about the human condition, spirituality, and creative and expressive responses to the world. Through these interactions, we want to enable students to explore humanities and arts disciplines that are often very different from how they perceived them in high school.

First-Generation Dinners

Fall First-Generation Dinner (October) – Parents Invited
Spring First-Generation Dinner (April)

Each academic year, we host two dinners for our first-year first-generations students, one in October and one in April, to bring the students together with successful first-generation alumni, faculty, staff, and administration. At the two dinners, these and other members of our community will discuss their own experiences as first-generation students.

Cultural Events Series

Symphony Performance (Fall semester)
Theater Performance (Spring semester)
Ballet Performance (Spring semester)

The program takes the first-year, first-generation students to three cultural events each academic year: one Symphony, one Ballet, and one Theater. These events allow us to continue conversations throughout the year about the arts.

First-Generation Program Coordinators

Rhea Edge

Professor of Art, Fine and Performing Arts Division Chair

Rhea Edge is Chair of Fine and Performing Arts at Eureka College, a Professor in the Art Department and President of the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society. As a practicing artist, Professor Edge maintains the Beluga Press Art Studio in downtown Bloomington and supervises the Burgess Hall Art Gallery and both the Pritchard and Burgess Art Studios here on campus. Her environmental prints and paintings have been exhibited widely, both throughout the midwest and internationally.

Sarah Jiter

Assistant Dean of First Year Programs

Mrs. Sarah Jiter, a first-generation college student, returned to her alma mater when she was named Program Coordinator in January 2008. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts and Drama in 2003 from Eureka College and a master’s degree in College Student Personnel Administration from Illinois State University.

As Assistant Dean of First Year Programs, Jiter's responsibilities include new student orientation, the
first-generation program, health and wellness education, commuter and international student support services, and Family Association advising.

Read About the Program

They're talking about us...

Learn about our most famous First-Generation Alum - President Ronald W. Reagan

First Generation Parents

They'll have questions too!

During Welcome Week, first-year, first-generation parents are invited to a “College Parenting 101” course. At this session parents will receive information about different facets of the College: FERPA, the Role of Advisors, Academic Status and Progress, Financial Aid, Resources Available at the Learning Center, Athletic Eligibility Rules, and important programs run by the Student Programs and Services office.

First-Generation Peer Mentors

Peer Mentors are upperclassmen who serve as a front line representative for the First-generation program and work closely with up to 5 first-year students. Peer Mentors are responsible for meeting several times each semester with these students to mentor them and will also assist the Coordinators of the First-generation Program in planning the year-long activities. All Peer Mentors are expected to represent Eureka College in a professional manner and serve as a role model, displaying positive behaviors for other students.