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This fall, Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management introduced the Whitman First Program, which aims to give first-generation business students the necessary resources to succeed.

Whitman First offers participating students tools for networking, help navigating financial aid and education about business jargon and other campus resources to create a sense of community.

Lindsay Quilty, assistant dean of Whitman’s undergraduate program, founded Whitman First this semester after attending the National Undergraduate Business Symposium last year. She said hearing people’s personal stories of being first-generation business students at the conference pushed her to start the program at SU.

“I left there thinking, ‘What are we doing here, and what could we do better, to expand the support and network that we’re providing to this really unique population of students?’” Quilty said.

Whitman First helps to make the campus feel more navigable for first-generation students who may feel isolated or overwhelmed, she said. So far, there are about 30 students and 30 staff involved with the program. Although it is primarily focused on helping freshmen, she said it may expand in coming years.

Quilty said many Whitman faculty and staff got involved with the program to serve as mentors because they were first-generation students themselves. Students and mentors were matched earlier this semester based on their similarities, such as common academic interests, through answering a series of questions.

Sebastian Tideman-Frappart, an assistant professor of accounting and Whitman First mentor, said the program acts as a platform to give first-generation students the resources and guidance they need.

“The program is a proactive attempt to navigate first-generation students at the very beginning of their studies,” Tideman-Frappart said.

Tideman-Frappart said being a mentor has allowed him to connect with students firsthand because of their shared experience navigating higher education atmospheres as first-generation students. Tideman-Frappart is currently mentoring a freshman accounting major, he said.

“You have no idea what focus or concentration to pick, so I couldn’t really talk to my parents about it because they had no academic background,” Tideman-Frappart said. “So I realized that having an early point of contact and always someone telling you that it’s okay to ask questions, it’s okay to seek for help, was something that I didn’t have.”

Dawn McWilliams, director of marketing and communications for Whitman, acts as a mentor to Doris Dai, a freshman studying marketing management in Whitman and public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

McWilliams said this program is a positive addition to SU because of the important resources it provides, like financial aid knowledge. She said her passion is providing students with access to higher education regardless of their background.

Although Dai said she hasn’t attended many events for Whitman First so far due to how new the program is, she’s looking forward to attending events in the future and taking advantage of the offered resources.

“If I had a financial aid question, or about my major, I could go to her for that, which is nice because my parents didn’t go to college,” Dai said. “They have difficulty navigating through that kind of stuff so I can’t really go to them, so it’s nice to have someone who understands.”

Aside from Whitman First, Whitman also has a Multicultural and First Generation Student Resource Group. Diane Crawford, the group’s founder and executive director for institutional culture at Whitman, said the Whitman First program offers a space for first-generation students who may not identify as multicultural to access resources and serves as a compliment to the resource group.

“It shows (that) first-generation students, regardless of their ethnicity or race, have an opportunity for the program benefits that Whitman First provides,” Crawford said. “First-generation students who just so happen to be multicultural, they have a place or a space where resources are unique for their needs.”

Although this is only the first semester of Whitman First, Quilty is expecting it to grow in the future.

“The more programs that we can do like this … making (students) feel like we’re rooting for them and we’re in it with them, to get them not just in the building but through the building, and into something really great after life at Whitman, I think we all win at that point,” Quilty said. “That’s the goal, belonging and being inclusive.”

Published on October 24, 2023 at 10:54 pm