Nov. 8 declared First Generation Student Day

On Monday, Chadron Mayor Miles Bannan proclaimed Nov. 8 First Generation Student Day during a city council meeting. 

“The declaration celebrates the 55th anniversary of the signing of the 1965 Higher Education Act and acknowledges the talents and potential first-generation students have to offer their communities.,” said Tena L. Cook, CSC marketing coordinato, said. “The declaration also reinforces the important role TRIO programs, Project Strive and Upward Bound, play in promoting educational success for first generation students. First generation students are those from a family where neither parent has a four-year college degree.” 

At the council meeting, current Project Strive students, Chadron High School seniors, and CSC Upward Bound Academic Adviser Kevin Coy were present to witness the declaration. 

Coy was a member of Project Strive as a first-generation college student at CSC before graduating in 2018. He now works with prospective college students from Chadron and Alliance.

“I love what I do,” Coy said in a press release Tuesday. “Since I was a first-generation student, I was able to do things through Project Strive that my family wasn’t able to do. I can motivate students, but they have got to dig down deep to make this work for them. There are resources, but they have to meet me half way.”

According to CSC’s 2019 fall enrollment survey, 40% of enrolled undergraduate students were first generation.