(gentle music)
- The first generation initiative,
I think, importantly
highlights this need, right?
So how can we create
these important
representations for students
to really signify to them
the message that they do belong here
and that they can be successful here.
They're really the voices of social change
when we think about identifying
what it means to be first generation
and what it means to support
first generation students.
- It's kind of like
something I pride myself on,
being the first in my family to go.
And especially when I come
back home and I see my siblings
and they ask about how college is.
It's something I really look
forward to when I come home,
like being that sort of
role model for my siblings,
and it's something I
take a lot of pride in.
- For me to be a first generation student
means to be prideful,
(speaks in foreign language),
of doing what I do.
I can make my way through it
and I can get a bachelor's
degree and do well in it.
- David Littlefield of
the board of directors
of the Jacques M. Littlefield Foundation
attended UC Santa Cruz
and he was introduced to the work
of the First Gen
Initiative here on campus.
And he was drawn to it
because the foundation already supports
getting students to college,
but we wanted to get students
to and through college
and ensure that they thrive
while they're at university
and UC Santa Cruz First Gen Initiative
really hit all those notes
so it was a great fit
for what David Littlefield
was trying to accomplish.
- These types of collaborations
that merge research with practice
is really reflected in the
First Generation Initiative,
where a lot of the programming
is guided by theory and research findings.
And the whole idea is to
use both of those things
to really guide students to
and through college, right?
And to really ensure their success
and their graduation from the university.
- The foundation is hopeful
that through the seed funding
that it has provided to the
First Gen Initiative on campus
that other donors or institutional funders
will come forward,
whether on campus
through the UC system
generally or outside,
and support the foundation's initial gift
in a way that's sustainable
over the long term,
so that this program can
flourish here on campus.
