First Generation Nebraska is sponsoring a reading of the novel "Make Your Home Among Strangers" by Associate Professor of English Jennine Capó Crucet on Friday, February 8 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Colonial A&B of the Nebraska City Union. This public reading will be followed by small group discussion on supporting the needs of first-generation college students. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.
"Make Your Home Among Strangers" portrays the life of Lizet Ramirez, a young Cuban-American woman leaving her home in Miami for the elite campus of Rawlings College in the East. As the first in her family to attend college, Lizet faces the challenge of trading in her family and heritage for a predominantly white campus that leaves her confused, isolated, and lonely in her first year. Dr. Crucet’s debut novel has been used by many college campuses as the “common reading.” Vanity Fair said “its incisive take on race and class makes it both urgently of-the-moment and destined to be a classic.”
The Executive Vice Chancellor’s Office sponsors First Generation Nebraska, an initiative designed to link first-generation college students with faculty and staff who share a similar academic experience with the goal of making our campus more "first generation friendly." Acknowledging first-generation status as part of one's identity might seem a small thing, but it can be critical to students' success, helping them easily identify faculty and staff who can relate to particular challenges they might be facing.
Visit the First Generation Nebraska website for more information on the initiative.