It’s a commencement speech standard that never fails to generate rousing applause: “If you are the first in your family to earn a college degree, please stand.”
I said those words in May at 16 separate in-person commencement ceremonies here at California State University, East Bay, where 64% of our students are first-generation students.
As a university president who is also a first-generation college graduate — and alumna of two California State University System campuses — of course I’m grateful for the opportunities my first degree has afforded me.
