APSU to celebrate first-generation students with new commons, week of events

By: Antonia Steele November 3, 2026

First-Generation Student Success Initiatives help students who are the first in their families to complete a four-year degree find community and support. | Photo by Sean McCully

CLARKSVILLE, TENN. - Every student’s legacy begins somewhere. For Austin Peay State University’s first-generation students, that start has a new home in the First Generation Commons.

An open house for the space will be held from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Nov. 9 in Memorial Health 104 to kick off First-Generation Celebration Week, a recognition of these students’ hard work and achievements.

Nearly 41% of Austin Peay’s full-time, first-year students this fall identify as first-generation, which means they are poised to become the first in their immediate family to earn a degree from a four-year college or university.

Although they make up a large percentage of APSU’s student population, first-generation students can face unique challenges. They may be less familiar with processes like payment timelines or attending office hours, and may not know where to turn for help.

“It truly is a different world in college,” said Asia Pace, APSU’s assistant director of First-Generation Student Success Initiatives. “It's a different environment. If you're coming from a high school to this environment and you don't have any other mentor to give you that knowledge base, it can be a real culture shock.”

To ensure that first-generation students make the transition, Student Success and Academic Excellence (SSAE) connects them with their peers, college support coaches, and other resources during GO Weekend.

Ahead of this semester, SSAE hosted a pair of welcome events: one for Purpose First Scholars (APSU's career-focused learning community for first-generation freshmen), and another for all first-generation students. This year's Purpose First Scholars cohort marks the largest in the program's history, with 146 students starting the semester together.

Many of those students also attended the larger welcome event, where SSAE’s student success coaches hosted a panel to answer questions and offer advice to first-year students. Student success coaches are recent graduates who mentor incoming first-year students while pursuing master’s degrees. This year, all five coaches are APSU alumni.

“Your belonging here is no different than anyone else's,” said Winter Parker, a student success coach and 2026 alumna. “If you have an interest in learning and bettering yourself, that means that you belong here, and no one can take that away from you.”

This fall, APSU’s existing first-generation student resources have expanded to include the First-Generation Commons. This space serves as a meeting place for Purpose First Scholars and G1Govs, APSU’s first-generation student organization, as well as a working space for first-generation students to use throughout the day.

"There's one girl who's been there every single day,” Pace said. “It makes me so happy. It's her place, and I love that for her. I think once we keep going through this semester, it'll become more people's place."

All members of the APSU community are invited to the space’s open house. First-Generation Celebration Week will also include dedications during the men’s basketball game against Livingstone University, a panel with first-generation faculty members, and multiple student activities.

These changes are supplemented by a #CelebrateFirstGen grant from FirstGen Forward and the Council for Opportunity in Education. The grant supports the First-Generation College Celebration initiative, which recognizes the experiences and achievements of first-generation students annually on Nov. 8.

To learn more about First-Generation support initiatives at Austin Peay, contact Pace at paceak@apsu.edu.