Josephine Juarez

Students and community partners enjoy the networking event.

Wesleyan students and community partners gathered in the Martin University Center Ballroom to attend the first ever First-Generation Networking Luncheon and Resource Fair on Thursday, Nov. 6.   

All students were welcome to attend the event, enjoy a free lunch and network with local employers. Attendees were also encouraged to go downstairs and attend the resource fair, which included tables from Planned Parenthood, PNC Bank, Fort Worth Community Collaborative, Catholic Charities Fort Worth and Timely Care. The event was hosted by Rams Rising, Career Services and Student Activities, and was the first event hosted for First-Gen students at Texas Wesleyan.  

First generation students are those whose parents don’t have a four-year college degree. Over half of Texas Wesleyan students qualify as first-generation.  

David Monge, director of Rams Rising Student Support Program, was one of the many faculty members involved in planning the networking event.  

“Our hope is that students left the event feeling a little more confident, more connected and more equipped to pursue what comes next,” Monge said. 

Senior theatre major and student activities intern Alexandra Bennett first brought up the idea of the first-generation luncheon and played a part in organizing the event.  

“I’d like first generation students to feel not only inspired but seen and heard,” Bennett said. “Because it can be hard being first generation, I myself am first generation, so I understand a lot of the struggles.”

Enrique Alvarez, a Texas Wesleyan alumnus and city planner for the City of Bedford, was one of many community partners invited to the luncheon. As a first-generation student himself, Alvarez said he believed this event was beneficial. 

“One of the hard parts [of being a first-generation] is just finding a footing,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t have that, and so I think networking events like this help out, because you have mentors, employers, people on the other side of the table that want to be here, that want to give back and that are available for people to ask questions to.”  

The networking event hosted community partners and allowed students to begin building professional relationships with people who’ve been where they are.  

“I feel like if the first generation students are better equipped with resources, they’ll be more knowledgeable, and they’ll be able to better navigate the college experience,” Bennett said.  

While this was the first event held for first generation students at Texas Wesleyan, the university’s recent acceptance into the FirstGen Forward program means that this is just the beginning.  

“We’re actively working to making first-generation visibility and belonging a year-round effort, not just a one-day celebration,” Monge said. “You can expect to see more events, opportunities and experiences designed with the needs of first-generation students in mind.”