History
Before Penn First
The groundwork for Penn First already existed in the form of disparate student organizations pushing for various representations of first-generation college students’ success, such as QuestBridge, FOCUS, Mayor’s Scholars, KIPP, etc. However, by the end of the 2014 Fall semester, there was a growing need for a comprehensive student organization at Penn that dealt with first-generation and low-income issues in an open and non-exclusive way. First Meeting and Growth The first community of Penn First was gathered by Sam Trinh and Yessenia Gutierrez in their efforts to rally first-generation students at Penn to attend 1vyG, the first annual inter-Ivy League first-generation college students’ conference. While reflecting on what they learned, the group became charged with creating this new student community for first-generation and low-income students, and enlarged with the partnership of other students and administrators who were actively thinking, writing, and organizing in the same cause. |
The FGLI Center and Onward
In the fall of 2016 Penn First left a mark at the University of Pennsylvania with the opening of the First Generation Low Income Center. The purpose of the center is two-fold. The first purpose is to provide a space where all FGLI can gather to provide support for one another. The second purpose is to have one centralized location for all the resources offered to FGLI students at Penn. The FGLI Center, located at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, is the second of its kind in the Ivy League.
In the fall of 2016 Penn First left a mark at the University of Pennsylvania with the opening of the First Generation Low Income Center. The purpose of the center is two-fold. The first purpose is to provide a space where all FGLI can gather to provide support for one another. The second purpose is to have one centralized location for all the resources offered to FGLI students at Penn. The FGLI Center, located at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, is the second of its kind in the Ivy League.