Friday, Sept. 27, the College of William and Mary commemorated the inaugural charter of the first-generation honors society Alpha Alpha Alpha. The induction ceremony took place at the Alumni House from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., with students, parents, faculty and Williamsburg community members present.
With over 150 chapters nationwide, Tri-Alpha assembles first-generation students and faculty in a community of mutual support, celebrating personal and academic achievement. The society’s first ever chapter started March 24, 2018 at Moravian University, growing considerably in recent years across the country.
Director of First Generation Student Engagement Joselia Souza hosted the event and began with an opening address to welcome the inaugural class, recognizing the College’s growing efforts to support first-generation students like herself.
“As a first-generation college graduate myself, this moment holds a profound significance, both personally and professionally,” Souza said. “It is heartening to witness how much has changed since my own college journey and to see how dedicated William and Mary is to uplifting and supporting first-generation students.”
Souza highlighted the organization’s profound significance on-campus, stressing the difficulty of navigating higher education as a first-generation student.
“Today, we gather here not only to honor the academic achievements of these remarkable students, but also to recognize the strength, resilience and resourcefulness it takes to navigate and excel in higher education as a first-gen student,” Souza said.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Higher Education Chelsea Smith delivered the keynote address. Smith reflected on her own journey as a first-generation college student, mentioning the institutional support she wished she had received at the time.
“But my circumstances were a direct implication of my journey as a first-generation college student,” Smith said. “I was not aware of the financial implications of attending college out-of-state, I was not aware of the importance of college match-and-fit, and I was not given proper and adequate career counseling.”
Smith evoked the one-of-a-kind strength and resilience first-generation students cultivate along their journeys, setting them apart from their peers.
“We as first generation students possess the capital, resilience and passion that others do not naturally have, and that I will never take for granted,” Smith said.
Closing out her remarks, Smith encouraged inductees to reframe the narrative around the first-generation student experience and embrace their community.
“As a first-generation student, we often discount our experiences and view being the first as putting us at a deficit,” Smith said. “But I want to challenge you to shift that perspective. You are a legacy builder, a generation changer and the prototype. And I want you to carry that with pride.”
Souza then proceeded with the student induction. In addition to membership certificates, each student received a pin with Tri-Alpha’s star logo and a blue-and-white graduation cord to commemorate the founding school of Moravian University. All students present signed the official charter.
In total, the society inducted 80 new members. To join Alpha Alpha Alpha, students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.2 and complete at least 30 credit hours toward a degree.
Following this, Souza inducted 26 faculty members into the society who will eventually serve as mentors for first-generation students at the College.
Director of Student Veteran Engagement Charlie Foster M.Ed. ’17 was among the faculty welcomed into Tri-Alpha. He shared that many student veterans also happen to be first-generation students and expressed his joy that they were being celebrated.
“So I’m a military veteran, and there’s a really high incidence of first-generation students inside the veteran population,” Foster said. “So to me, it’s a really nice celebration of both kinds of students who are often together in both categories.”
Foster mentioned the unique challenge of transitioning directly from military service to higher education, with two student veterans being inducted that day.
“It makes it harder if they’re first-gen, because they’re not getting that advice from parents and immediate family on how to navigate college,” Foster said. “And so then, college is going to have these requirements or processes, and those processes are going to be different for the student veterans.”
Technology Process Analyst Christopher Burton MBA ’25 was another faculty member inducted into the society. Burton shared his enthusiasm for building mentor-mentee connections with students who have had non-traditional educational trajectories.
“As a person who has had a non-traditional path in college, coming from first a junior college and then receiving my bachelor’s at a traditional university, it was a plight for me,” Burton said. “So what I like is that this brought together a bunch of people who may go through a similar plight, and provided them a space where not only they could interact with their peers, but also be introduced to potential mentors.”
Amy Timmins ’26 was inducted at the ceremony. As a non-traditional student coming back to college later in life, Timmins shared her excitement to be able to eventually mentor younger students after graduating.
“I really appreciate the mentorship aspect of it,” Timmins said. “Being a non-traditional student and older student at the College, I’ve been hesitant to join some of the other things because I really don’t want to take away from the traditional students’ route. But because of the mentorship part of Alpha Alpha Alpha and having the opportunity to come and mentor somebody once I graduate, that really touched me about the organization, and was why I wanted to be a part of it.”
Fellow inductee Faisal Abdella ’25 celebrated the society’s role in building a network of first-gen students who support each other from the start.
“I’m generally excited because I think this is pretty important for the first-gen network,” Abdella said. “Because it’s kind of hard to do that at the start of college, where we’re kind of already behind on the game. So just having this type of society.”
After the event, Souza reflected on the sense of togetherness and celebration she noticed in the room throughout the evening.
“I really enjoyed seeing the faculty and staff, families and supporters of students here really celebrating their achievements and honoring what it means to be first-gen,” Souza said. “And it was really exciting to just see everyone light up and be happy.”
Souza also shared her upcoming plans for collaborating with Tri-Alpha students and giving them opportunities to pursue their own creative passions.
“I love working with first-gen students,” Souza said. “I like to give them their creative freedom. You know, is there something that you’re passionate about? We can make it happen. Is there a workshop you’d really like to see? Let’s make it happen. Let’s work together and figure out how we can help them get some of those leadership experiences and be a better leader for the next first-generation students.”
