03/27/2023
Contacts for media: Emily Gowdey-Backus and Nancy Cicco
* MEDIA ADVISORY *
WHAT: A UMass Lowell initiative dedicated to the success of full-time students who are the first in their families to go to college will open a space on campus for them to call their own.
Launched in 2017 and known as the River Hawk Scholars Academy (RHSA), the nationally recognized program provides first-generation students with academic and support services to enhance their educational, campus and community experiences.
Originally, the RHSA served only freshmen and sophomores. Last year, through a $500,000 federal grant and other funding, the program expanded to also serve juniors and seniors with career-readiness workshops that help participants step into the workforce or move on to graduate school.
Forty percent of UMass Lowell’s students are the first in their families to attend college – 1,000 of whom have participated in the RHSA, to-date. In 2020, the Center for First-generation Student Success named UMass Lowell a First-gen Forward Advisory Institution, recognizing the RHSA as a national model program for other colleges and universities to emulate.
WHO: UMass Lowell students from Lawrence and Quincy will share how they have benefited from the RHSA. UMass Lowell leaders expected to speak include Chancellor Julie Chen; Leslie Wong, dean of equity and inclusion; and RHSA Director Matthew Hurwitz, associate teaching professor of English.
WHEN and WHERE: Wednesday, March 29, 4 p.m. UMass Lowell O’Leary Library, Suite 300, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell. Members of the media who would like to attend should contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information.