SMSU to Host 3rd Annual First Gen Student Day on Nov. 5

Published Monday, November 02, 2026

Students ready to tie dye at the 2024 event

SMSU will host the third annual First Gen Student Day on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. This event celebrates First Generation students and will be held from 10am-1pm in the Student Center Upper Level. The event will include tie-dye, activities, and poster presentations featuring our students, employees, and alum who are or were first generation college students. Free t-shirts (for tie dye) will be available for the first 100 attendees as well as “I’m First” Stickers and cookies.

Sponsors for the event include: the Provost’s Office, Assistant Vice President for Equity and Strategic Partnerships, Access Opportunity Success, TRiO/Upward Bound, Deeann Griebel Student Success Center, First Generation Student Club, and the Office of Admission.

The National First-Generation College Celebration is an annual opportunity to raise awareness of the first-generation college student identity by advancing an asset-based, national narrative of these students’ experiences and outcomes. Since the Council for Opportunity in Education and FirstGen Forward hosted the inaugural celebration in 2017, hundreds of higher education institutions have joined together in recognizing the achievements of the first-gen community on and around November 8 each year.

For information on the SMSU event, connect with Dr. Erin Kline, Assistant Vice President for Equity and Strategic Partnerships at 507-537-6657.