First To Go Program

What is First To Go?

First To Go Program Mission Statement:

The First To Go Program at Loyola Marymount University offers first-generation college students valuable resources and opportunities for their academic, professional, and personal growth. It is our mission to reinforce and build upon the unique sources of cultural capital first-generation college students bring to the university in order to create a community that promotes and progresses our students' successes during their tenure at LMU.

We're first-gen! Are you? Find out! 

At LMU, any student whose parent(s) or caregiver(s) did not receive a bachelor's degree from a university located within the United States is referred to as a first-generation college student. If your parent(s) or caregivers(s) attained an associate's degree from a community college and/or you have siblings who have gone to college, you are still considered a first-generation student under our definition!

Commitment to Educational Justice:

As a collective, First To Go advocates for first-generation college student equity, access, and inclusion practices that center restorative justice pedagogies. In empowering and guiding identity-intersectional students who have been generationally and systematically excluded and underserved in higher education contexts, we create a multi-cultural academic and co-curricular community that pioneers promising initiatives in service of student success, global and local citizenry, and civic imagination.

In providing holistically-serving resources, true investment, guidance, and intentionality, we co-design an educational culture with and for our first-gen students that serves student needs, uplifts narratives, and enhances agency.

By co-constructing an equity-minded campus culture that investigates the questions: "What is equity?" and "Equity for whom?" (McNair, Bensimon, Malcom-Piqueux, 2020), First To Go is able to enact our equity vision via our programmatic pillars: Advocacy for Educational Justice and Transformation; Community Building and Empowerment; Academic Engagement; Preparation for Post-Graduate Success; and Enhancing Student Transition, Belonging, and Wellness.