What Matters

OWU Is the Place for First-Gen Success

During my first 15 months at Ohio Wesleyan, I've crossed the nation talking with alumni of all ages about their OWU experience, their lives after OWU, and what matters most to them about this university they love.

One issue that fires up the spirit, the gratitude, and the imagination of alumni is OWU's role in providing opportunities for first-generation college students. Many of our alumni were the first in their family to graduate from college; all value Ohio Wesleyan's long history in guiding first-generation college students to find their pathway, succeed academically, and begin a successful adult life with an Ohio Wesleyan degree.

That's the case with Katherine Trine Grissom '92, who earlier this fall made a $12 million estate commitment to Ohio Wesleyan to support first-generation college students. Trine remembers her Italian professor, Penny Popper, who worked with her every day during office hours and was the first person to detect a learning disability. After a formal diagnosis, she got the help she needed, and she improved her grades from C's to straight A's.

Trine believes she would have fallen through the cracks at a different school, and she told me, "I want to give back to Ohio Wesleyan because OWU took a chance on me."

Crucially, Trine also recognized the substantial investment and innovative programs we've implemented to attract first-generation students to OWU and, more important, to make sure they succeed and do indeed become the first in their family to graduate. Trine's is the latest in a series of seven-figure gifts to OWU in recent years to support our work with first-gen students. What started as a splash has surged into a tidal wave of support.

Ohio Wesleyan has become one of America's premier destinations for first-generation college students. This fall, 38% of our new students will be the first in their family to graduate from college. More students are achieving success and progressing toward graduation. And appropriately, the president of the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) is Gabby Gonzalez-Duarte '26, a first-gen triple major in public health, psychology, and politics and government.

We have teams of faculty, staff, alumni, and donors who are deeply committed to empowering first-gen students and giving them a space where they find belonging. Our work with first-gen students begins weeks before they set foot in their first classroom, preparing them for the rigors of college, and it continues through tutoring, advising, counseling, career services, and more. We are proud of that work, which is profoundly altering the lives of individuals and the trajectories of families for generations to come.

And we are grateful that so many Ohio Wesleyan alumni are generously providing the resources to help us fulfill that mission.

Matt vandenBerg
President, Ohio Wesleyan University
Facebook: mattpvandenberg