Diversity and First-Gen Office
The Diversity and First-Gen Office supports the campus and academic life of first-generation and/or low-income students by coordinating the efforts of campus partners to ensure a warm welcome and successful transition to college life. Support for diversity includes, but is not limited to, class, socio-economic background, privilege, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, educational heritage, and immigration status.
First generation" refers to anyone who will be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college/university. The Diversity and First-Gen (DGen) Office provides support to these students through a variety of services, programs and initiatives.
Mission
"First generation" refers to anyone who will be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college/university. The Diversity and First-Gen (DGen) Office provides support to these students through a variety of services, programs and initiatives. The DGen Office's mission is creating an interconnected Stanford community.
Specifically, the DGen Office builds student capacity and confidence to become interconnected with people from different backgrounds. Our contribution to Stanford’s diversity landscape is to provide campus leadership in addressing life with multiple identities and intergroup relationships that overlap with social class. Within this mission is a special focus on enriching the experience of first-generation college students by supporting their transitions, empowerment and community building.
Objectives
- Provide and support programs that connect first-generation students with faculty, staff and graduate students to affirm their first-generation identity and to enhance a sense of belonging.
- Identify hidden stress and barriers for first-generation students and raise awareness to help overcome these barriers.
- Provide training programs for pre-major advisors, student services staff, financial aid staff and Res Ed staff.
- Spotlight available resources.
The Diversity and First-Gen Office (DGen) was created to respond to concerns about the experiences of first-generation (first-gen) college students, to highlight social class as a part of the diversity equation and to innovate diversity programs in general and with an emphasis on social class in particular.
