PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland State University is making way for students from all walks of life. Of the students enrolled by fall of last year, 25% have children, 39.4% identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and nearly half are first-generation college students — meaning they're the first in their family to attend college.
“We have almost 50% of first-generation students,” said PSU President Dr. Ann Cudd in a recent KGW Straight Talk interview. “So we are really opening doors of opportunity to families and communities that have not previously had the opportunity to engage in higher education.”
That includes students like Inle Gonzalez, a junior at PSU who grew up in a rural part of eastern Oregon with little Hispanic representation and influence to get a higher education.
“My parents both immigrated from Nayarit, Mexico and college was not an option for them,” said Gonzalez.
While her parents didn't attend a higher education institution, she said they have been her and her siblings' biggest cheerleaders. She knew at a young age that college was a goal she was going to achieve.
"My mom was very driven in education and luckily my dad was very motivated to get us to go to college," Gonzalez said. "And growing up we knew we were going to go to college. It wasn't like a 'Oh we won't.' It was like 'We're gonna.' Like, 'Le vamos a echar ganas!'"
While PSU is on track to become a Hispanic-serving institute in the coming year and attract more BIPOC first-gen students, Gonzalez said that more needs to be done.
“I think schools should showcase more of the resources that they have and opportunities, because especially being first-gen, when you don’t know anything about college, you don’t know what doors to knock, you don’t know where to look for help,” said Gonzalez. "It can be really intimidating."
The University of Portland has also served as a first-generation advisory institution since 2015 — one of only two such schools in the Pacific Northwest.
This is a program that Kelsey Olivera, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, works alongside and knows well. She works as the events and programming coordinator for the first gen program. And, she added, she works alongside first gen students all the time and feels great giving back.
“I think it’s very empowering, because first-generation students have a lot of intrinsic motivation to do better and excel and try their best, and it also makes me feel good that I am not alone,” said Gonzalez. “I personally take a lot of pride in being a first-generation student. I know it’s not easy to be the first one to go to college and do all these new things but I think it’s an amazing opportunity to pave a path for my future.”
Of the more than 800 new students enrolled this fall, UP says 35% are first-gen students.
Both Olivera and Gonzalez showed appreciation for what their parents have done and sacrificed to get them to where they are.
"Gracias, thank you to my parents. I wouldn't be here without them. I'm doing this for them. Once I get that degree that is their degree, porque ellos crusaron la frontera (because they crossed the border) for me and my siblings," said Gonzalez.
"I would like to tell my parents thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to go to college and raising me the way that they did and giving me these core values — getting an education and working hard," Olivera said. "I think without them I wouldn't be here today."
Olivera has plans to one day work in family medicine. Gonzalez plans to work in the education field in eastern Oregon and give back to the community she grew up in.