First-generation students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have gone on to establish an impressive legacy of professional accomplishment.
Jacqueline Perez has been a big part of that tradition. The 2015 CSB graduate earned a degree in political science, then went on to receive her law degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2019, focusing on issues related to immigration law.
The following year, Perez began her legal career as an assistant county attorney in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office where she is now a member of the adult prosecution division – working in the Domestic Abuse Service Center (DASC) and collaborating primarily with the Minneapolis Police Department’s domestic violence unit.
Her impressive resume makes Perez a perfect choice to deliver the keynote address when CSB and SJU celebrate National First-Generation College Student Day with an event scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 7) in CSB’s Gorecki Conference and Dining Center.
“I know a lot of students will relate to Jacqueline’s story,” CSB and SJU Director of Multicultural Student Services Malik Stewart said of Perez, the first member of her family to become an attorney. “She is such a role model of what it means to use your education in the pursuit of justice and to make a positive difference in our world one day at a time.
“I’m grateful that so many first-generation alums are willing to come back to campus and share their time with current students.”
Indeed, almost one in four students at CSB and SJU come from families whose parents did not obtain higher education. Thursday’s event – which comes one day before the actual National First-Generation College Student Day – will highlight the achievements of the 681 current first-generation Bennies and Johnnies.
The program – which will also include food, music and prizes – is free and open to the public. It will also feature the announcement of the opening of applications for the 2025 Tri-Alpha induction class. The induction ceremony is scheduled for next April.
Tri-Alpha, the national honor society for first-generation college students, held its first induction ceremony at CSB and SJU in the spring of 2023.
The Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the Center for First-generation Student Success launched the inaugural National First-Generation College Student Day celebration in 2017. It commemorates the signing of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.
The act created federal financial aid programs to fund students’ educations and made key investments in colleges and universities. Many of the HEA’s programs, particularly the Federal TRIO programs, promote postsecondary access, retention and completion for today’s limited-income, first-generation college students.
