Families First connects first-generation families to UMN

The annual fall program creates a support system for parents and families of first-generation students at the University of Minnesota.

Families of first-generation students watch as their students make the iconic M at the Pride and Spirit event at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., in Aug. 2023.  This opportunity is only open to families of first-generation students.

By Fiona Curran

What says “Big Ten” to a first-generation family more than a classroom or dorm hall? 

Maybe it’s sitting in Huntington Bank Stadium while listening to the marching band and watching students form the Block M on the field. Since 2016, this joyful moment has been one part of a welcome for first-generation families at the University of Minnesota via the blending of a program called “Families First” with the new-student experience Pride and Spirit.

But Families First is a lot more than watching a marching band make an M.

The evening program allows new first-generation student families to hear from established first-generation students and their parents, along with volunteers from campus organizations, about what it means to go to college, said Gavin Grivna, the director of the Parent and Family Program. Families can “benefit from connecting with campus staff and different resources to be able to better support their students,” he said.

The Pride and Spirit part of the Families First event takes place at the end of the day, allowing families to watch as new students sit in the stadium’s student section and learn the university’s chants and songs. Parents and families of first-generation students join their kids as they feel what it’s like to be a student at the university.

Parents “not having had that experience of being on a college campus, they don’t necessarily know what to expect,” Grivna said. “This program really seeks to provide some of that information and connection to campus, but also a connection to each other.” 

The program also provides a space to network with other families who are going through the same experience.

Meaghan Thul, the assistant vice provost for student life, former director of the Parent and Family Program, and the creator of Families First, said the event is among her favorite activities of the year. 

“Families are always proud of their students, but I think our first-generation families have a different level of pride and excitement about their student going off to college,” Thul said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held in the stadium’s club room. When the event started in 2016, there was an educational presentation of information about the university, but families were not interested in that, Thul said. Families could still watch Pride and Spirit and were provided food by the university.

The Parent and Family Program works with the President’s Emerging Scholars program, the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence and the TRIO Student Support Services to host the event. It is funded by the university, which also covers parking costs at no cost to the families who attend, Thul said.

“I think Pride and Spirit is a great event to show off,” Thul said. “It thinks about, ‘Who are you going to be as a student? What is this experience going to be like for you?’ And it’s fun to see families engaging in that. It’s fun to be able to be in that with them.”

Families are introduced to the coaches of the football and basketball teams at the university, as well as learning the “Minnesota Rouser” and other traditions with the marching band. “It helps families of first-generation college students get some of that similar foundation and experience, and hopefully develop some Gopher pride,” Grivna said.