TURNING THE TIDES
They reflect the land-grant calling to offer educational access and opportunity. Meet a group of standout first-generation college students completing their degrees with talent and tenacity. They are featured in a documentary film series that highlights the journeys of first-gen students at CSU System campuses.
By Coleman Cornelius | May 22, 2025
AS HE SAT at a desk in isolation, separated from other schoolchildren, under the watchful eye of an aide, Kenan Thomas started to believe what seemed to be the consensus among his teachers – that he likely wouldn’t amount to much.
“I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to go very far in life,” Thomas recalled, while sitting in the Lory Student Center on the Colorado State University campus after a political science class.
Thomas landed in isolation many times for bad behavior at his Fort Collins elementary and middle schools. He talked back to teachers, defied instructions, and disrupted classrooms. There were underlying reasons: He had a turbulent home life, was bullied for being overweight, and suffered occasional racism as one of few Black kids at his schools. He was eventually expelled.
“It got to the point of, ‘We can’t work with this student,’” he said. “But it was a blessing in disguise.”
As part of his expulsion, Thomas took classes on the campus of Poudre Community Academy, an alternative high school. Here, he met two educators who believed in him – a social studies teacher and an English teacher. “They saw the good seed in me, and they watered it and allowed it to grow,” he said several years later in a promotional video for the school, which he attended voluntarily after meeting the requirements of his expulsion.
At the alternative school, Thomas became successful in his course work; he discovered a passion for learning that he’d never felt. Soon, he made a habit of encouraging younger kids. He earned straight As and graduated in 2023 as class salutatorian. And, along the way, Thomas began considering college. His high school mentors urged him to act on his interest in teaching.
Now, he aspires to build a career in education – as a social studies teacher.
“They were the ones who truly inspired me to pursue it,” he said of his high school teachers. “Just as they supported me and guided me, I hope to do the same for students who are in a position similar to where I once was.”
Thomas described his path while finishing his sophomore year at CSU, where he has a double major in political science and history, a 3.93 grade point average, works for the Office of Admissions, and serves as a peer mentor for 17 other undergraduates.
His transformation is even more notable because Thomas is a first-generation student – the first in his family to earn a college degree. It is a status with inherent challenges: Many first-gen students face significant financial hurdles and often struggle to gain a sense of belonging, having no family history of college success. Yet, Thomas anticipates graduating with two bachelor’s degrees in 2027 and plans to then earn a master’s degree in education, along with teacher licensure.
“I’m here because I want to make a difference. If I can empower even one student, that’s enough to make an impact in the world. I know how much one person can make a difference, and I want to make a difference for other students,” he said.
Kenan Thomas mentors other students in a CSU academic program called Key Communities. Photo: Matthew Staver.
Thomas, 20, is among hundreds of students attending CSU with a First Generation Award, designed just for first-gen students from low-income backgrounds. In addition, he is a Reisher Scholar, an award based on academic merit and financial need. Together, the programs cover all his school costs.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” he said. “For me, being a first-generation student means overcoming and achieving in the face of adversity. I really never thought college would be for me, but here I am.”
Thomas is also the subject of a video in a documentary film series called First Degree, which highlights first-generation students at CSU System campuses. The docuseries demonstrates that academic achievement is possible with talent, tenacity, and support. By showcasing the paths of first-gen students pursuing higher education and its benefits, the series underscores a core mission of a land-grant university System.
“First-generation students are the foundation of the Morrill Act of 1862 and what it means to be a land-grant university,” said Tony Frank, CSU System chancellor, referring to legislation that paved the way for CSU and other land-grant universities. “With that act, it was our country’s conscious decision to open up college education to the children of the working classes.
“These students represent a vast reservoir of talent, and we provide the opportunity to unlock that potential. All of us benefit in the process,” he said. “That’s the promise and the potential of a land-grant university.”
The First Degree docuseries features eight standout first-generation students and alumni who embody this concept. It launched in Fall 2024, during the 40th anniversary celebration of the First Generation Award, a landmark CSU program supporting first-gen students.
If there were any doubts about the connection between these students and the university’s mission, it is worth noting that CSU’s first three graduates were first-generation students. They made up the class of 1884.
There was Elizabeth “Libbie” Coy, the very first woman to graduate from any college in Colorado, who became a college instructor, an education advocate, and a Fort Collins community leader; George Glover, a farm kid from Longmont who went on to establish CSU’s prominent veterinary school and grew into a renowned veterinary researcher; and Leonidas “Lon” Loomis, son of a Fort Collins town founder, who became a prosperous Northern Colorado farmer.
Last year, in 2023-2024, 1,234 undergraduate degrees were awarded to first-gen students at CSU – students who carry on the tradition of that very first class. This year, in 2024-2025, first-generation students made up about 25 percent of CSU’s undergraduate population; that’s about 5,600 students. At CSU Pueblo, that number is 40 percent, or about 1,300 students. And CSU Global’s student population is 33 percent first generation, comprising about 4,600 students.
“Our mission as a land-grant university calls us to prioritize access and pave the way for student success, especially for those who are the first in their families to earn a college degree,” CSU President Amy Parsons said. “Our first-generation students have so much to gain and so much opportunity at stake. They are pursuing degrees not only for themselves, but also for their families and communities.”
Stevie Thate, a first-generation college graduate from Montrose, found her academic passion in meat science and worked in CSU’s Meat Laboratory, which includes processing facilities and a storefront. Photography: Matthew Staver.
STEVIE THATE, A first-gen student who graduated from CSU earlier this month with a bachelor’s degree in animal science, reiterated that idea. She grew up on a small family farm in Montrose, on Colorado’s Western Slope, and exhibited market cattle and pigs in 4-H and FFA. Thate said she is gratified to show her younger siblings that college is possible.
“They have someone to look up to, someone who’s a role model, who works hard and sets goals. They can see all their opportunities in life,” said Thate, 22, who plans to go on to graduate school at CSU with a focus on food safety.
In 1984, Colorado State was the first university in the country to offer scholarships for first-generation students, defined as those whose parents did not earn bachelor’s degrees. Called the First Generation Award Program, the project became a model nationwide and has blossomed into an institutional priority. It is a key reason CSU’s undergraduate enrollment is about 25 percent first gen.
In the 40 years since it began, the scholarship program has awarded more than $20 million to about 2,500 Colorado students. This year, 274 students have attended CSU with first-generation scholarships. Recently, 75 new first-gen students per year have been awarded renewable CSU scholarships, with a typical award of $7,500. That covers more than half of annual tuition and fees.
“We have a strong legacy of supporting first-generation students and always have a need to increase the resources because the demand dramatically exceeds our capacity,” said Ryan Barone, CSU’s assistant vice president for student success.
First-gen students, including Thate, often secure scholarships from other sources, and many attend college with a mix of institutional funding, state and federal support, privately funded scholarship awards, and jobs on and off campus. This allows first-generation students to graduate with no debt or manageable debt as they strike out to realize their dreams.
As is the case nationwide, there remains a gap between CSU first-gen students and the general campus population based on persistence in school and six-year graduation rates, which are two litmus tests of student achievement in higher education.
Yet, the first-gen students who reach graduation attain key milestones: 86 percent of first-generation students secure plans within six months of graduation – 68 percent are employed, and 18 percent continue their educations, according to CSU data. Of those employed, 85 percent have jobs related to their career plans. These rates are comparable to those for the total student population.
“We get to work with first-generation students who are changing their family stories. It’s inspiring to learn the dreams they have. They often want to give back to their families and communities – to the ancestors who helped them get here.”
The CSU First-Generation University Initiative, which expands on the First Generation Award Program, promotes a cohesive campus strategy for first-gen student success, increases awareness and visibility of resources, identifies service gaps, and links multiple CSU programs, allowing for seamless student referrals among them.
These and related efforts recently resulted in CSU being named a FirstGen Forward Network Champion, an honor recognizing the university as a trailblazer in supporting first-generation student success. CSU is the first university in Colorado and one of only 32 institutions nationwide to be recognized.
“When you are a first-generation student with unique experiences, it’s important to have people around you who will validate and uplift those experiences,” said Mary Ann Lucero, who was a first-gen college student, is co-chair of the First-Generation University Initiative, and leads CSU’s Academic Advancement Center.
Lucero often shares stories of first-gen students who have transitioned into the professional world, creating a ripple effect of impact. “I have so much gratitude for students allowing me to be part of their journeys, and to see them get to the point of graduation is rewarding,” she said. “Seeing the impact they’re making – it’s their legacy. It’s beautiful.”
From a pragmatic standpoint, supporting first-generation students pays dividends in professional workforce development, a more competitive business climate, and higher earnings that contribute to the tax base.
But the reasons for support are larger than that, Frank said. “You can come up with elegant economic arguments, and you can check your conscience at the end of the day and know this is the right thing to do,” he said. “The success of students is part and parcel of the higher education bargain. We have a responsibility to help them succeed.”
Robert Lamm, shown with his service dog, Fletcher, is an environmental engineering major with partial blindness. He has overcome personal challenges to excel at CSU; for instance, he serves as a Presidential Ambassador for the Office of the President. Photography: Matthew Staver.
SUPPORT IS OFTEN necessary for success. Take Robert Lamm, a CSU senior studying environmental engineering with a minor in sustainable water management. He is attending CSU while coping with partial blindness and has found support from a handful of nonprofits that help people with disabilities. One provided him with his service dog, a Labrador retriever named Fletcher; others awarded him needed scholarships. Beyond that, Lamm has discovered strength and confidence through his academic progress and his wife, Adriana.
“My education has been absolutely life-changing. Now, I have security in my future. I have confidence in my future,” said Lamm, 30, who is single-minded in his resolve to give back to society and to the organizations that have helped him.
“As first-generation students, many of us are breaking generational poverty,” he continued. “It’s turning the tides.”
Lamm has overcome personal hardship to become a Presidential Ambassador, representing the CSU Office of the President at high-profile campus events. He has conducted research in a biochemical engineering lab. And he was recently named a finalist for the Truman Scholarship, the nation’s premier graduate award for aspiring public service leaders. Reserved for exceptional students, the grant is conferred by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
“Even though my parents couldn’t have taught me about navigating college, my mom and dad did teach me tenacity,” Lamm said. “I had no clue how strong I was until I came to CSU, thanks to all these opportunities.”
First-generation student Ashley Magee is a cadet in CSU’s Army ROTC program and is incoming cadet commander of the Ram Battalion. She is training with a nonfunctioning replica weapon. Photo: Vance Jacobs.
LIKE LAMM, CSU student Ashley Magee is working to end her family’s generational poverty. Magee, a junior studying health and exercise science, grew up in Manitou Springs and is part of Army ROTC and the Ram Battalion. When she graduates next year, she will be commissioned as a second lieutenant and hopes to fly helicopters in the U.S. Army.
“It matches my personality. I’ve always been a go-getter,” said Magee, 21, who is attending CSU with a full-ride Army ROTC scholarship. “I want to be in combat scenarios – I think I can help in that role and have a larger impact.
“I love so much of what America provides,” Magee continued. “There are infinite little experiences I feel so fortunate for every single day, and knowing I am in a position to protect that gives me an immense sense of purpose. I wouldn’t have had as much opportunity to have a prodigious impact without college.”
Jesse Vido just graduated from CSU Pueblo with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and a Master of Business Administration, which he earned while working and helping to support his family. Photo: Brian Buss.
OVERCOMING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP likewise was a motivating factor for Jesse Vido as he completed a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and a Master of Business Administration at CSU Pueblo. Vido, from Pueblo, just graduated with both those degrees. Throughout his time in college, he helped support his family with jobs on and off campus.
“We grew up not so financially stable, and I want to make sure we never go through that again. That’s my motivation,” said Vido, 22, who received a federal Pell grant and multiple scholarships to attend the university. “I want my brothers and sister to see college is possible, even if it’s difficult. I’m trying to break through barriers so they can do the same.”
At one point, Vido was so overwhelmed with school, work, and family responsibilities that he was on the verge of dropping out of CSU Pueblo. But his parents encouraged him to stick with it. “They said, ‘Don’t give up. Just keep trying.’ I was very close to dropping out, but with their support I decided to continue in school,” Vido recalled.
Roberto Mejias, an associate professor of computer information systems and director of CSU Pueblo’s cybersecurity center, was an influential role model for Vido as a Hispanic professional and first-generation student himself.
Mejias has key advice for students facing Vido’s decision. “I have at least four or five students a semester who come to me saying, ‘Dr. Mejias, I need to drop out of college – I just don’t have the time.’ And I say, ‘Don’t drop out. Drop back,’” Mejias says during a conversation with Vido in a First Degree video. “It’s like, ‘I never thought about that.’ So, they’re taking 18 credits, working 40 hours a week. Something’s got to give. So, I say, ‘Drop back to nine credits.’”
Even if it takes longer to graduate, Mejias noted, students fully realize their time and financial investments in higher education only when they complete their degrees.
For Vido, it’s especially rewarding to graduate after the academic challenges and indecision he confronted. “I’m proud of myself for not just giving up. I thought it was impossible, but I ended up doing it, so that’s a big pat on the back,” he said. “I learned I’m resilient and determined if I’m set on a goal.”
Yasmine Hernandez was a standout student-athlete at CSU Pueblo who now works as a nurse in Longmont and, with three academic degrees, aspires to become a hospital CEO. Photography: CSU Pueblo.
YASMINE HERNANDEZ ECHOES that pride in her accomplishments. Hernandez, who grew up in Johnstown, was a high-achieving student-athlete at CSU Pueblo.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2021, followed the next year by an MBA and a master’s degree in nursing management and leadership. Hernandez graduated with highest honors – summa cum laude – in all three cases.
Meantime, she broke records and amassed championships running 800-meter and 1,500-meter races. Hernandez won the national title in the 2022 NCAA Division II women’s 1,500 and anchored CSU Pueblo’s national championship distance medley relay team.
“I was really excited to be the first person in my family to go to college and set a new precedent, encouraging other family members to go,” said Hernandez, who attended CSU Pueblo with an athletics scholarship. “My family is so proud of me – it’s sweet. They’re so proud of the work I’ve put in and the determination it took to do it, and I’m proud of myself for what I’ve accomplished.”
Since graduating in 2022, she has worked as a nurse in both hospital and home-health settings – and, last summer, trained to race in the Olympic trials. Injuries prevented her from competing in the trials, yet Hernandez continues to train and assess next steps in her running career.
Now, she’s working as a medical-surgical nurse at Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont, helping patients with a wide range of medical conditions and with recovery from surgery. With her education in nursing practice, business, and nursing administration, she aims to someday work as a hospital CEO.
“I really enjoy getting to play a big part in helping someone get better and helping make their experience as positive as possible,” Hernandez, 26, said. “It’s super rewarding to see your patients make progress, and I’m loving learning more about the world of nursing.”
Justina Slim, a CSU alumna in animal science, recently returned to the Navajo Nation, where she grew up. Now, she’s sharing scientific knowledge and best practices with Tribal ranchers as a way to improve food production and support the Navajo culture. Photo: Brian Buss.
CAREER ASPIRATIONS WERE also a motivation for Justina Slim as she completed her bachelor’s degree in animal science at CSU in 2023. Slim grew up on the Navajo Nation, where her family raises Angus crossbred beef cattle. While in school, she hoped to return to the Navajo reservation to apply her learning and impressive campus and internship experiences to improve Tribal beef cattle production. Her aim: to strengthen food security and Navajo culture.
“My biggest dream is to create a closed-loop food system so the Navajo people can return to food sovereignty, and we can feed our own people,” Slim said.
In her first job out of college, Slim, 24, is one step toward fulfilling her dream: She has returned to the Navajo Nation and works as a livestock specialist for the Diné College Land Grant Office. In her role, she shares scientific knowledge and best practices with beef cattle and sheep producers across the reservation.
“It’s a dream come true,” Slim said. “I like to say I’m lucky, but I worked extremely hard for all of it.”
She attended CSU with the help of multiple scholarships and awards, including CSU’s Native American Legacy Award, a Tribal Agriculture Fellowship, and grants from the Navajo Nation. She also found support through the university’s Native American Cultural Center and from professors and advisers.
One of her first big projects exemplifies what Slim hopes to achieve. The Diné College Land Grant Office secured funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to establish a mobile slaughter unit that will process beef, lamb, and goats on site. The unit will be inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will yield safely packaged meat, just like a small packing plant.
“It’s crazy – it’s happening,” Slim said of the project, the first of many food-system initiatives she hopes to manage. “I am a huge believer in manifestation – never taking a ‘no’ or a ‘can’t’ for an answer.”
Christina Horn is pictured above with her husband, Matt Horn, and father, Harry Jackson. With her education from CSU and CSU Global, she has started her own business offering training in food safety while also helping to run her family’s orchard venture in Palisade. Photography: Vance Jacobs.
HER COLLEGE EDUCATION is also enabling Christina Horn to contribute directly to her family and community.
Horn grew up in Palisade, running through the orchard and vineyards where her family has grown peaches, cherries, nectarines, and wine grapes. For years, she helped in the orchard, called Harry’s Peaches, which was named after her dad, Harry Jackson. While earning a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary liberal arts at CSU, Horn sold the family’s peaches on the roadside in Fort Collins.
She graduated in 2005 and taught culinary arts in the Grand Junction school district. As years passed, Horn decided to seek an advanced degree to expand her career opportunities. She attended CSU Global, the CSU System’s fully online university, which allowed Horn to continue working in her home community as she earned a master’s degree in teaching and learning. She graduated in 2023.
“That gave me the confidence to say, ‘If you want to create your own adventure here, you can,’” Horn said. “I knew I had a higher- level education in my pocket.”
Last year, she started her own business, Food Safety Delivered, teaching restaurateurs and other food-industry professionals the skills needed to ensure food safety. Those who complete her trainings may take the exam to become certified food protection managers, which are state-mandated positions at food establishments.
Becoming an entrepreneur has a side benefit: Now, Horn, 45, has time to handle the business aspects of her family’s orchard venture. “It’s rewarding to know I was granted a childhood that not everybody gets. I want to honor the gifts I was given as a kid,” she said. “I can do that now, and I got there through my higher education.”
Rebekah Buena got hooked on higher education through the CSU Spur campus in Denver and now is studying landscape architecture at CSU in Fort Collins. Photography: Matthew Staver.
REBEKAH BUENA, OF Denver, got hooked on higher education through a horticulture research internship based at the rooftop gardens at the CSU Spur campus in Denver. A top student at nearby Bruce Randolph School, she was encouraged by her high school teachers and her CSU mentor, Jennifer Bousselot, an expert in greenroof systems. When Buena revealed her interest in both horticulture and architecture, Bousselot, who was also a first-generation student, suggested a possibility for college studies: landscape architecture.
That resonated with Buena, who had grown up working in the yard with her grandpa. She had cultivated her love of sunflowers by his side.
Before landing on her field of study, Buena had persistent doubts about whether she could succeed in college, with its rigorous academic demands, large student body, and campus activities that were alien to her and her family. That was despite taking multiple college-level courses, including calculus and political science, while attending Bruce Randolph School in north Denver.
But her mom, who had immigrated to the United States from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, pushed Buena toward higher education. “My mom wanted us to have a better life than she had, so whenever there’s an opportunity, she wants us to take it,” Buena, 19, said. “She wanted us to do something with our lives that we love and want to do, not just what we have to do, and to have a career that will provide a good income and quality of life.”
In August last year, Buena entered CSU as an honors student majoring in landscape architecture – with a full-ride scholarship from the Colorado Garden Foundation. She has continued her green roof research with Bousselot and has new friends through her residence hall and El Centro, a cultural resource center.
“When I think of a first-generation student,” Buena said, “I think of a person who is ready to achieve dreams that past generations haven’t.”
Photo at top: Kenan Thomas, a CSU history and political science major, transformed from an at-risk schoolkid to a student leader during his first-generation academic journey. Photo: Matthew Staver.
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