Amethyst Hurt and Austin Davis are among 580 first-year students at LC this fall, but they are also the first in their families to attend college.
Their move-ins were documented by The News & Advance on the front page of Sunday’s edition.
University of Lynchburg is one of 20 colleges nationwide awarded a $100,000 Walmart College Success Award to assist first-generation college students, who comprise about 30 percent of the student body.
First-generation students are defined as those whose parents have not graduated from college.
LC is using the Walmart award to strengthen its existing first-generation college student services, provide new services and financial assistance to ensure increased retention and graduation rates of these students, and participate in the network of colleges that are committed to student success for first-generation college students.
“First-generation college students may not have had family members who have navigated the college experience,” said Mari Normyle, assistant dean, Academic and Career Services. “This puts extra responsibility on the institution to provide more information to help meet their needs.”