UC News
BREAKING
THE CYCLE

Breaking the Cycle

headshot of Administrator By Administrator
3 minute read March 21, 2019

As UC’s GEN-1 PROGRAM celebrates its 10th anniversary, students, alumni and staff reflect on the impact and success of the first-of-its-kind initiative

 

S

TEPPING ONTO A COLLEGE CAMPUS for the first time as a freshman is exciting and nerve-wracking for any young person.

 

But there’s an additional challenge for those who are first-generation college students. They don’t have the same point of reference as those whose parents attended a fouryear university and already navigated campus life. They might not have any support at home. And the numbers aren’t on their side. LaShayna Murray can relate. Since her mom had dropped out of high school, receiving her diploma was the top priority in her household. Getting her mom onboard with things like applications and financial aid was a bit of a challenge, but going to college was her dream.

LaShayna Murray can relate. Since her mom had dropped out of high school, receiving her diploma was the top priority in her household. Getting her mom onboard with things like applications and financial aid was a bit of a challenge, but going to college was her dream. “I had to take a lot of ownership of that,” Murray says. “This is what I want to do.”

Gen-1 class LaShayna Murray and Stacy Overbey tour UC Gen Impact House. UC/Joseph Fuqua II

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam ligula est, consequat nec rutrum tempor, elementum et nibh.

She persisted. Murray graduated from Taft High School, a Cincinnati public school, and was accepted to the University of Cincinnati just as a new program dedicated to first-generation students like her was underway.

Founded in response to alarming statistics — the national six-year graduation rate for first-generation, Pell-eligible students was 11 percent in 2008 — UC created the Gen-1 program in 2008. With a focus on successful transition to the university, first-to-second year retention and degree completion, a hallmark aspect of the program was the Gen-1 Theme House, which The New York Times has recognized as the nation’s first living-learning community to focus on first-generation college students. Murray was the program’s first student.

Fourteen others soon joined her in the house that year, living together on one floor of a building in Stratford Heights, a residential property adjacent to UC’s campus.

The rules were tough: Students couldn’t go home overnight or have visitors after curfew the entire first month. They had GPAs to maintain. But it was all meant to help keep the students focused, and they all were in it together.

Program coordinator Judy Mause served as something of a house mother, building relationships with the students and their families to keep them on track for success. Now, years after her official retirement, Gen-1 is still Mause’s passion project.

“ The single most important trajectory of change in a person’s life is education, whatever that education is. Because what you put in your head, no one can take away from you.”
—Judy Mause

Further action is required to make this image accessible

One of the below criteria must be satisfied:

  • Add image alt tag OR
  • Mark image as decorative

The image will not display on the live site until the issue above is resolved.

Related Stories

3

Engineering graduate student developing intelligent AI systems

September 21, 2026

Artificial Intelligence is on the rise, and researchers are working harder than ever to understand, develop, and improve it. Aneesh Deshmukh, computer science M.S. student at the University of Cincinnati, is working on AI systems modeled after human brain functionality. Deshmukh's goal is to help these robots understand their surroundings and take this knowledge to navigate unfamiliar environments in the future. For this work, he has been named Graduate Student Engineer of the Month by the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

4

UC expert explains geology of Mammoth Cave

September 21, 2026

UC Associate Professor Dylan Ward and UC geosciences graduate Rachel Bosch joins an episode of OutSCIder Classroom to talk about weathering in caves found in places such as Mammoth Cave National Park.

5

AI is going to change all our lives

September 21, 2026

UC College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Professor Kelly Merrill Jr. tells the Columbus Dispatch that AI is becoming engrained in every aspect of health care.