LAUDING THE FIRST GENERATION

Ripon College ranks highly in percentage of first-generation students

Numbers have grown to more than 46% of student body

Loren Boone, Former Director of College Relations

More than 46% of Ripon College’s student body self-identifies as first-generation college students. Some come to Ripon on a journey having big dreams like law school or medical school. Many come to Ripon needing a high level of information to help them make important decisions about their college educations.

Some first-generation students come to Ripon having questioned whether higher education was in their future and many come having thought a private college was not possible based on their background and family finances.

In all, more than 340 Ripon students are first generation, meaning neither parent earned a four-year degree. The percentage of firstgeneration students at Ripon continues to inch upward — the percentage of first-year students in the first-year class has increased from 40% in 2014 to 48% in 2019.

Ripon’s 46% first-generation students is higher than 19 of the 22 institutions in the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU).

Rachel Hicks ’21, a first-generation student from Endeavor, Wisconsin, leads a group tutoring session at the Franzen Center for Academic Success. She is majoring in educational studies and history.

Ric Damm

First-generation students at Ripon include Maythe Salcedo ’23 who is the first in her family to graduate from high school and now the first to attend college. She is among a growing number of students of color who are destined to be firstgeneration graduates.

So, why has Ripon become, or always been, such a welcoming institution to firstgeneration students?

As a faculty member and a former firstgeneration student herself, Jean Rigden, director of teacher education, will tell you it’s the relationships that faculty and staff develop with students that sets Ripon apart. Many faculty, alumni and undergraduates share that thought.

Rigden has spent 11 years helping students become teachers. “We make connections with students so they have a person with whom to relate,” she says. “Sometimes, a student will come to me and ask if they can just talk about something. And, I tell them, ‘Yes, I’ll be your college ‘mom’ right now’.”

Rigden is also a faculty mentor in the new Franzen Center for Academic Success working with students who want to improve their academic performance. She also helps train and supervise tutors and has been part of a faculty panel that talks with participants in a Bridge Program for first-generation students that aims to ease the transition to college. The bridge effort is sponsored by Ripon’s U.S. Department of Educationfunded Student Support Services (SSS).

“I encourage students to meet with their professors and advisor and not be afraid to ask questions,” Rigden says, adding that she can’t emphasize that enough with students. “Every student meets with their advisor once a semester at Ripon. That’s not the case everywhere.”

While other reasons are tied to those relationships, some faculty, staff and alumni indicate it’s the nurturing nature at Ripon and the intimate experience that makes the College welcoming.

Another reason Ripon has been successful recruiting and graduating first-generation students, according to Michele Wittler ’76, associate dean of faculty and registrar, is that “we appeal to families who are pursuing the American Dream in that they want their kids to be better off than they are, that they have better lives, interesting work and are financially better off.”

Undergraduates say it’s the admission process, financial aid and fellow firstgeneration students who share their experiences that make Ripon their choice.

With more and more students of color and those from rural areas going to college, it is likely that many of them will continue to be first generation as neither of their parents would have earned a four-year degree.

Ripon, despite being in a non-urban area, has built a diversity population of 18% and of those who entered this fall in the class of 2023, 25% (55 students) are from diverse backgrounds.

Building a diverse student body is “a strong initiative everywhere,” says Jennifer Machacek, vice president for enrollment.

Machacek and Leigh Mlodzik ’02, dean of admission, say that current first-generation students are their best recruiting tools for prospective students who are first generation. “First-generation students find value in relating to both students and faculty who are just like them,” Mlodzik says.

Several Ripon faculty members were first generation. “They know what these students are experiencing. Faculty are documented proof of the experience and success,” Machacek says.

Mlodzik adds, “Ripon offers a very intimate, inviting, personalized educational experience. It’s a comfortable environment” without a lot of competition to succeed. “Fellow students are the best support.”

Others point to services available to the many first-generation students who participate in the SSS programs and extensive one-on-one and group tutoring programs in the Franzen Center. Students point to SSS where staff work with students to ease the transition, become academically successful, learn financial literacy and are exposed to the potential of graduate school.

Dan Krhin, executive director of SSS, says the program focuses on first-generation and low-income students and those with physical or learning disabilities. About 160 Ripon students, the vast majority of them first generation, use the services offered in an intimate setting in Bartlett Hall.

While SSS, which Ripon has had for 40 years, is focused on a specific population of students, the Franzen Center is open to everyone and brings all tutoring and academic resources into one coordinated, high-tech space in Lane Library. The center has tutoring contracts with more than 300 students, the highest in 12 years. Seventy-seven students serve as tutors, including 35 who are first generation. It also offers extensive walk-in and group tutoring for specific academic areas and courses and has six collaboration meeting rooms.

A cross-country race includes first-generation student Madie King ’21 of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. She was the women’s individual champion at the Midwest Conference Championships, the first time in 30 years and the second time in school history a Ripon College studentathlete has done so. She is majoring in economics.

Ric Damm

Along with the facilities and programs to help first-generation students is a high level of commitment to student success demonstrated by faculty and staff who assist students well beyond traditional expectations.

About 40% of incoming SSS first-generation students annually participate in the intensive three-day Bridge Program before school starts to assist in setting them on the road to success in college.

Participants meet with their peer contacts who work directly with the first-generation students. They are introduced to their first Catalyst curriculum class and learn about the importance of time management and good study habits. They attend their first college class, learn about academic resources and about connecting majors to careers and graduate school.

The Bridge Program, Krhin says, takes an integrated approach to assist students with a smooth transition. “Students may have the support of parents, but they don’t have the experience of belonging to an institution, nor how to use the SSS program.” He adds, “Firstgeneration students are as talented as other students but often lack information that could help them be more successful.”

Dakota Marlega ’21, a first-generation student from Waupaca, Wisconsin, presents at the fall 2019 Catalyst Day. She is majoring in communication and theatre.

Ric Damm

In addition, the Bridge Program encourages students to see college as an interdependent experience, not an independent one.

And, academic success is the key. “We tell students that your journey to a successful career is a path that you need to follow and adhere to,” Krhin says. “That starts with academic success.”

He adds first-generation students use the program in a variety of ways from talking with staff about increasing academic skills to learning about connecting majors to careers and how the graduate school process works. He says the biggest element firstgeneration students and their parents need “is more information upon which to base their decisions. You don’t know what you don’t know.” Some students hit the ground running, Krhin says, “others don’t have the tools and information about being successful. We try to help both types of students.”

Study skills, Krhin says, are key to any student’s success and especially firstgeneration. They need to use the college’s tutoring services, seek assistance from faculty and keep a planner. “We have always encouraged students to see tutoring as guided practice,” he adds.

Tutoring, Krhin notes, is not just for students who may not be doing well in a class or classes. “Our philosophy is that tutoring is actually practice in academics. You wouldn’t want to go to class without practice just like an athlete wouldn’t want to go to a game without practice.” Students are encouraged to start tutoring as soon as a semester starts.

“The message is clear,” Krhin says, “start tutoring in the first week of school so you can practice being a good student,” regardless of whether you’re first-generation or generational. Perhaps the reason Ripon attracts and retains so many first-generation students is all the combined efforts of so many members of the faculty and staff. “It takes a village to recruit and retain a student,” including first-generation students, says Leigh Mlodzik ’02, dean of admission.

A familiar face in Ripon College theatre productions, Deshawn Thomas ’20 is a first-generation student from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here, he performs in the play “Paragon Springs.” He is majoring in theatre.

Ric Damm