KINGSVILLE (Nov. 10, 2025) — Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) celebrated First-Gen students through a series of events last week meant to recognize first-generation college students, their achievements and contributions as the first in their families to attend college.
This year’s events were planned by the First-Gen committee, which wanted to foster a sense of community among the students it is celebrating, while collaborating with other entities on campus to put on the events.
“This year we wanted to accomplish a sense of community and we wanted to come together as a campus to celebrate First-Generation students,” said Alex Amaya, Director of Student Academic Success at TAMUK. “First-Gen week has been around for years, but I think it was important to come together and partner (with other departments) so that our students as well as the entire campus could feel that sense of belonging. Our purpose was to make sure our students felt accomplished and that everyone enjoyed the celebration.
Events began with the First-to-Go kickoff and included a First-Gen poster presentation, research showcase, interactive workshops, a First-Gen panel and stole ceremony and concluded with a resource fair.
The First-Gen Committee was comprised of Dr. Cynthia Alvarado-Stinson, Veronica Arellano, Cristina Briseno, Veronica De Leon, Marina Gerragauch, Veronica Hinojosa, Dr. Hector Vasquez and Jacinda Vera.
Among the committee members were multiple First-Gen students, allowing them to closely relate with the students it celebrated last week.
“We definitely identify with the group that we’re serving,” said McNair Scholars Program Coordinator Veronica Arellano. “We know the importance of it and we’ve lived it, we want to see it continue and we want to see that support at TAMUK. We’ve had several people doing separate things in celebrations in prior years. This year we wanted to put all our resources together to make it a community and university event.”
University departments contributing to First-Gen week were:
- Office of the Provost
- Office of Student Access
- Center for Student Success
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Office of Marketing and Communications
- Student Engagement
- Jernigan Library
- McNair Scholars Program
- Title V Program
- Student Support Services / STEM
- Office of Financial Aid
- Counseling Services
- Writing center
- Student Engagement
- Office of Workforce Development
- Makerspace and
- Global Engagement
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