First-Gen DePaul, a club dedicated to providing support for first-generation college students, has doubled the size of its executive board from six to 12 members this year to adapt to its rapid growth.  

Founded in spring of 2024 by students Victoria Gomez-Meza and Javi Garcia-Medina, the club “is for first-generation students who are just looking for a community or a support system,” said  sophomore Dayana Berrum, First-Gen DePaul’s marketing coordinator and social media manager.  

According to Garcia-Medina, who is now the club’s president, the expansion of the executive board has not only relieved much of the workload from himself and the rest of last year’s executive board members, but has also aided in the growth of the club itself.

Their first event of the year, “Matcha, Music and Games,” boasted over 100 attendees. Garcia-Medina said this was shocking to him, adding that only 30 matchas had been ordered in anticipation for the event.

Berrum noted that college is difficult to navigate for first-generation students, so the club aims “to provide a community and a safe space for them to be able to have resources or just meet new people, because it’s hard meeting new people.”  

The club will also be hosting a Sunset Walk on Oct. 20, meeting in Room 109 of Arts and Letters at 4:45 p.m.  

While First-Gen DePaul finds it important to host these social gatherings, those are balanced with professional events, as well.  

The club hosted a First Year Mixer on Sept. 24 for interested freshmen. The event provided refreshments and a thorough presentation on different resources DePaul offers to students.  

At the First Year Mixer, First-Gen DePaul’s co-vice president, Chris Oropeza, also presented some tips for first year success, which included recommendations such as starting a LinkedIn and building relationships with professors.  

Freshman Natalia Poplawski attended the event in hopes of finding the support she missed out on as a first-generation college student. 

“I just wanted to know more about the opportunities this club could give me,” Popalawski said.  

Poplawski said she feels  that many of her peers whose parents attended college had more knowledge on financial aid and other logistics of college, so she saw the event as an opportunity to find some support.  

Berrum said, as a freshman, she didn’t know much about the resources or extracurriculars DePaul offered, so First-Gen DePaul “made me get more involved in school, and I definitely learned about more resources that there are here.”

Garcia-Medina explained that, because none of the club’s executive board members get paid, their motive is always to help other first-generation students and build something “more than just an org.”

“If you would have told me that I was going to become a president of a student organization here at DePaul my freshman year, I would not believe you,” Garcia-Medina said.  “I was very nervous, I never considered myself a leader.”

However, driven by his mother’s teachings to be kind and the pressure he felt to build pathways for others as a first-generation student, he said he was able to grow into this role.  

“I think that just proves that that hunger that is within first-generation students, that hunger just keeps growing as you go and as you see progress, and as you see what pathway you’re creating and leaving behind,” Garcia-Medina said.  “You just want to do more.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to properly identify a First-Gen board member and to clarify the time and location of the Sunset Walk.

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