First-Generation College Celebration

On Nov. 8, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, which provided federal financial assistance to college students and helped millions of low-income, first-generation students to become the first in their families to earn college degrees.

The College of Liberal Arts is among the academic units across the Purdue campus and around the U.S. that will celebrate the 55th anniversary of this landmark legislation on Nov. 8, 2020. In recognition of the many first-generation CLA students, faculty, and staff who are making an impact on campus, the First-Generation College Celebration will feature several events during the week after the Nov. 8 kickoff.

Among these events are a virtual town hall on Wednesday, Nov. 11 featuring CLA associate dean Joel Ebarb and Dennis Bowling, Purdue University senior associate director for access and retention programs, and a virtual conversation with alumni speaker Tom Christopoul on Thursday, Nov. 12. Christopoul (MA 1988, Organizational Communication) is co-founder of Athos Capital Partners, a private real estate investment partnership, and a member of the CLA Advisory Council.