Making an Invisible Identity Visible: First-Generation, Low-Income Week of Celebration 2024

Making an Invisible Identity Visible: First-Generation, Low-Income Week of Celebration 2024

Over 300 students joined the festivities on November 8.

MIT’s FLI Week of Celebration theme, “Brick by Brick: Building on Your Strengths,” — a whimsical ode to MIT’s motto of Mens et Manus, “mind and hand” — symbolized our commitment to an asset-based approach of honoring the resilience, strengths, and unique contributions our FLI community brings to MIT. As one of 65 recipients of a grant from the National FirstGen Forward Network, we integrated this theme across multiple events and initiatives, building up to our main celebration on November 8.

The LEGO mini-figure keychain activity was a big hit.
  1. FLI Week of Celebration focused on Cross-Department Collaboration. We would like to thank the Graduate FLI Community, the UROP office, CAPD, SFS, S^3, UAC, and the Wellness Lab/WGS/LGTBQ+ Office for their support with our collaborative events. Through our week-long programming, FLI students become aware of options for support even if they do not use them immediately. In addition to highlighting resources, our students feel a sense of peer-to-peer support across departments and graduation years at MIT.

  2. We handed out red FLI sweatshirts to undergraduate students, with an emphasis on our first-year class. We began inviting staff and faculty to participate in the tradition, too. Needless to say, the sweatshirts were a hit! We handed out over 200 sweatshirts, of which 171 were given to the class of 2028. Each student signed up for our FLI newsletter mailing list and filled out a FLI affirmation. These affirmations are made visible in our office and in the Infinite Corridor.
  3. Over 300 students joined us on Friday to craft custom LEGO mini-figure keychains, reflect on personal strengths, and enjoy LEGO-inspired cupcakes (thank you, Jocelyn Heywood and Renee!). Many students wore our custom MIT FLI sweatshirts, a powerful symbol of unity and pride. The keychains served to remind students of their aspirations and strengths — students often equipped their LEGO mini-me with artifacts of dream careers, hobbies, or interests.
The UAC FLI Team, including mascot Winni.

FLI is an invisible identity, which can make our students’ experience at MIT feel lonely. Through FLI Week of Visibility and our mementos, which have subtle logos but bold colors, we encourage our students to take pride in their FLI identity.

— Tiffany Low, UAC