New Initiatives Celebrate First-Gen Community at Trinity

Trinity College recently hosted a series of events in celebration of National First-Gen Students Day. Programming was held November 12 to 14, 2025, bringing together students, staff, faculty, and alumni to honor the first-gen student experience.

The F1RST Foundations breakfast on November 12 in Hamlin Hall served as a casual gathering for students, faculty, and staff who identify as first-generation.

On November 13, the F1RST Fusion reception in the Manuel and Maria Luisa Lopes Borges Admissions Center connected first-generation students, faculty, and staff with select local alumni to explore collaboratively building a stronger first-gen community presence.

At the November 14 F1RST Flourish workshop in the Cornelia Center, TinaMarie Lugo—a licensed social worker, wellness coach, and wife of Trinity President Dan Lugo—invited first-generation students to begin to formulate a holistic strategy to cultivate healthy habits for life.

Roberta Rogers, director of retention strategy and transition programs, said that the programming was part of this year’s focused efforts to strengthen a thriving first-gen community, under the banner of Trinity F1RST. “We’ve launched several innovative initiatives to both identify and better connect the first-gen community members on campus and through our alumni network,” she said. “Thanks to a dedicated coalition of alumni, faculty, and staff, we are hosting a range of new activities to engage both first- and continuing-generation community members.”

Trinity’s first-gen cohort—which typically includes 18 to 20 percent of the students in any given class—is diverse and has a nuanced definition, Rogers added. “First-generation is typically thought of as the first in one’s family to either attend or graduate from a four-year institution,” she said. “Some identify as first-gen if their parents completed college outside of the U.S. or had a non-traditional college experience. We want to bring together all community members who would like to ally with and/or identify as first-generation.”

The recent events were timed to coincide with the national First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC), which raises awareness of first-generation college student experiences, and outcomes. FGCC is celebrated annually on and around November 8 to commemorate the signing by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, which created federal financial aid programs and made key investments in colleges and universities. Since the Council for Opportunity in Education and FirstGen Forward hosted the inaugural national FGCC in 2017, hundreds of higher education institutions, corporations, government officials, non-profits, and K-12 schools have joined together in recognizing the achievements of the first-gen community.

Momentum is growing toward building a robust first-gen community of Bantams, Rogers said. Additional foundational initiatives launched on campus this year include a Commencement Weekend celebration for graduating first-gen seniors and their families, an expanded Trinity F1RST Scholars orientation program for incoming first-gen students, the roll-out of a group of first-gen peer success coaches, and themed monthly community dinners to help deepen critical connections.

Rogers said that plans for 2026 include pairing upper-year first-gen students with first-gen alumni mentors; holding focus groups about what is most important to first-gen students’ success; organizing a symposium featuring the experiences and achievements of the first-gen community; and working with alumni to start a first-gen advisory group. She hopes that these plans will further involve President Dan Lugo and TinaMarie Lugo, both of whom identify as first-gen themselves.

Rogers added, “The goal is to shape and support a vibrant, inclusive community of Bantams to succeed, thrive, and achieve.”