Tufts University celebrates undocumented, first-generation college students

 

POSTED ON May 06, 2019

 

On Friday, Tufts University celebrated 58 first-generation college students who graduated this year. According to the Boston Globe, the community of first-generation students at Tufts is growing. The incoming class this year had 210 first-generation students, up from 163 last year. Among the graduating seniors on Friday were seven undocumented students, the first such students to graduate Tufts, Boston Globe said.

Among the students who graduated this year are Jesse Najarro-Cermeño, Mario Delgado, a 25-year-old physics major from Charlotte, North Carolina, who came to the United States from Ecuador when he was 8, and Coralys de Jesus.

Tufts president Anthony Monaco, himself a first-generation student, spoke briefly during the ceremony, but students cheered the loudest for Robert Mack, an associate provost and chief diversity officer at the school who has worked to assemble “a vast array of programs and services for first-generation students” the paper reported.

On Friday, students talked about how much better they felt after meeting other first-generation students who could relate. “It’s just such a relief to know that you’re not alone,” Delgado told the paper.

Here’s what Tufts says about welcoming low-income and first-generation students.

An offer of admission from Tufts could include enrollment in a six-week summer bridge program for first-generation college students and students from under-resourced high schools.

The Bridge to Engineering Success at Tufts (BEST) at Tufts support students in their transition to college.

The Center for STEM Diversity, which oversees the BEST program also creates communities of support for underrepresented groups.

Students with a total family income of less than $60,000 receive a financial aid package that includes no student loans. Students with the greatest need get additional grant funding for travel and personal expenses in the financial aid package.