More than 75 percent of students attending Texarkana College are first-generation college students.
This special demographic was recognized Wednesday during the inaugural First-Generation College Student Celebration at TC's Palmer Library.
Mayor Bob Bruggeman of Texarkana, Texas, and Mayor Ruth Penney Bell of Texarkana, Ark., signed a proclamation in honor of the event, which is part of a nationwide movement to give credit to these students.
Both mayors said they were first-generation college students who attended TC, with Bell telling her story of riding a bus from Ben Lomond, Ark., to the college to earn her degree in the early 1960s.
"The emphasis at TC has always been to educate those students who don't have much of a chance," she said. "I didn't have much of a chance, and, yet, I wanted to fill in this blank-I am a teacher. I wanted to teach. I started here. It was a wonderful experience."
She encouraged the students to continue their studies and earn a higher education credential, which can be life-changing.
"You don't know how many other people you're affecting. Your siblings, your children, your best friend," she said. "TC is a wonderful place to start and keep going don't ever stop learning. It's our job, it's our responsibility for the next generation I look out here and I see myself in so many of your faces, and I think, 'Thank God for TC.'"
Dr. Tonja Mackey is the director of the school's three federal TRIO programs, which serve first-generation college students. She introduced the staff for each of the programs, which include Talent Search, Student Support Services and the Educational Opportunity Center, which was put in place last year. Mackey also announced another way TC will recognize the hard work of these students.
"One way we are going to celebrate the success of first-generation college students is to implement a graduation cord for you to wear," she said. "The cords are awesome."
The cords are blue and green and will be given free to the first 200 first-generation graduates in December. The Texarkana College Foundation purchased 200 of them, and after they are gone, eligible graduates can purchase them for $4 in the school bookstore prior to commencement ceremonies.
"I think we'll just see a sea of these at graduation this semester." Mackey said. "It's just a way to recognize those students."
TC President James Henry Russell thanked Mackey for her hard work and dedication with the TRIO programs and the students they serve.
"Her passion to do whatever it takes to help our students be successful is unbelievable, and we are seeing that in the graduation results of our students," he said.
TC has the highest completion rate of all community colleges in the the state of Texas.
"That's an impact on the whole community," Russell continued. "Anything we can do to recognize our students for the barriers they're breaking through, I'm really excited to be a part of that. All our students need is a little bit of help and they can do some amazing things."
For more information on the TRIO programs, go to texarkanacollege.edu.