Across the nation, 56% of undergraduates have parents without a bachelor’s degree, and 24% don’t have a parent with a high school degree, according to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). Abi Sloniker, club President, and a first-generation college student, did undergraduate research on topics about first-gen students. Sloniker’s main take away from her research was that Christopher Newport University needed a space for its first-gen students to connect and meet each other.
The First-generation Captains club aims to provide a safe space where first-gen students can ask for help as well as other questions they may have. As Sloniker did her research, she realized that first-gen students sometimes tend to go about college by themselves without asking for help. The club hosts biweekly meetings in McMurran 101 from 6-7 pm. The activities in these meetings vary, from going out to eat together to playing video games. “[Our club] was made to feel a sense of community amongst everybody and [for people to] be able to interact with others who have similar life and college experiences,” she said.
The topic of being first-gen is not something that comes up frequently with other students who are not first-gen. Executive-board member Caleb Funnell explained that it’s easier to talk about the struggles of being a first-gen student with other first-gen students, because they tend to relate to and understand the challenges that first-gen students may go through.
When asked why she joined the club, member Alyssa Gonzalez said that it was nice to find a community that she can relate to. Gonzalez followed up by saying that people may not realize what a big deal it is for first-generation students to have basically no background with college.
Sloniker discussed how graduating as a first-gen student will be such a big accomplishment for her. “Nobody else in my family has ever finished college. For me personally, [I have] three younger sisters that are looking up to me [and I want to] make a good example for them,” she said.
Sloniker stated there are currently 45 members in the club’s GroupMe, a number that is steadily increasing with new people showing up at almost every meeting. “To see that we are slowly making an impact and forming a bigger club than we realized, that’s pretty cool,” Funnell said.
The next meeting for First-generation Captains is February 12th at 6pm in McMurran. Their Instagram: @fgc.cnu and email is [email protected]
