First-Gen Dawgs celebrate National First-Gen Day with cookies and other treats. Photo by Natalie Goo.
ISABELLA AMBROSE | STAFF REPORTER | iambrose@butler.edu
First-Gen Dawgs — a new student organization on campus focused on supporting and encouraging first-generation students — participated in First-Gen Celebration Week from Nov. 4 through Nov. 8. The week of programming was meant to familiarize students with the large first-generation population at Butler.
As 20% of students and over 150 faculty members at Butler are first-generation students, the consensus from students was that a club for the first-generation community was long overdue. During focus groups, interested students expressed that they wanted the club to be more than a social group.
First-Gen Dawgs is co-advised by Meg Haggerty and Josiah Hatfield, the director and assistant director of New Student and Family Programs respectively.
“Some things that we took from the focus groups that we’ve created [were] a lot of emphasis on first-generation students needing access to mentorship and job shadowing and internship opportunities,” Haggerty said.
Haggerty, Hatfield and club leadership organized and hosted events throughout the week. On Nov. 4, the club partnered with the Commuters at Butler Board to hand out coffee and donuts to students. Haggerty also led first-generation students through a strengths training program that helped them find talents they can put on job and internship applications.
“It’s not uncommon for there to be a lot of intersectional identities between being a first-generation student and being a commuter student, or being a student of color or being a student-athlete,” Haggerty said.
First-Gen Dawgs aims to support first-generation students from every background. Making an environment where students can seek mentorship from people with similar backgrounds was one of the most important aspects the creators considered when planning the club.
“I think there is a social encouragement of knowing there are other people that have your similar lived experience, whether that be fellow students or faculty [and] staff,” Hatfield said. “You can take a breath and you realize that you’re not the only one who’s having to figure it out all on your own.”
On Nov. 5, the club set up a photo booth for students in Atherton Union. Students could take pictures with signs that said “Proud to be First-Gen” and “#celebratefirstgen.” On Nov. 7, the club hosted a Career Readiness Networking Dinner, where 15 faculty members hosted tables and talked through post-graduation plans.
Nov. 8 was National First-Gen Day, so First-Gen Dawgs held multiple events on campus. In the afternoon, the club handed out buttons, stickers and cookies iced with a blue “1.” At the Butler men’s basketball game against Austin Peay, First-Gen Dawgs invited all first-generation students, faculty and community members to stand to be recognized.
Health sciences major Madison Evans and healthcare and business major Ailym Soto are the president and vice president of the club, respectively.
Soto is a first-generation student, and she wanted to play an integral role in the development of First-Gen Dawgs because of the community of students it could bring together.
“Having support for others and for yourself [is one of] the things that I wanted to see here in school,” Soto said. “I’m surprised that there wasn’t anything already established.”
First-Gen Dawgs hopes to expand their activities by the end of the school year. They will host a call-out meeting on Nov. 20 in Levinson Family Hall. They have also discussed holding professional skills workshops, creating networking opportunities and collaborating with other clubs around campus to continue to support first-generation students.
