We, the students of Dr. Kami Fletcher’s HIS 370 “Word is Bond: Oral History as Preserving Culture & Community” were grouped and tasked with collecting the lived experiences of Goucher students, staff, administrators, and faculty.
“First Generation College Students in the Goucher Family” is an oral history project under the tutelage of Dr. Fletcher that aims to document the experiences, challenges, and successes of said first-generation students. Defined as students who were the first in their immediate family to attend and subsequently graduate from a 4-year institution, the impetus of the project stems from a wanting to know how family background, adaptations, transformations, cultural capital, sense of belonging, experiences inside and outside the classroom, struggles, and victories leads one to college. Ultimately, this oral history project will allow for both the experiences of first-generation students to become a prominent part of the Goucher narrative while foregrounding how the overall college experience differs from continuing students. Since Goucher College’s Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP) students make up 70% of Goucher College’s first-generation population, the project most certainly explores how the GPEP program affects the community of first-generation students at Goucher.
Oral Histories were conducted by the following Goucher students:
Briana Brinkley, Class of 2026, majoring in American Studies
Kyla Dolan, Class 2027, majoring in History
Katelynn Roberts, Class of 2028, majoring in History
