Class of 1975 establishes First at Carleton Fund to support first-generation students

The Carleton Class of 1975 showed strong support of current and future students in June with its 50th Reunion gift to the College. Over $16M was raised by class members in honor of their milestone reunion, which was celebrated June 19–22, 2025, and saw nearly 40 percent of the class return to campus to gather in person — the highest percentage of attendance for any class at Reunion 2025.

Around $1.5M of that $16M total — counted in both cash and future commitments — has been dedicated to establish the endowed First at Carleton Fund. The Class of 1975 created this fund to help first-generation students who may face academic, financial, and social challenges in college to achieve a sense of belonging and succeed at Carleton. The First at Carleton Fund will help ensure that students who are the first in their families to attend college experience all the benefits and resources that come with a Carleton liberal arts education.

“We want this fund to connect first-generation students with resources they may need, to build their skills, support their accomplishments, boost their confidence, ease their development of a strong sense of belonging, and facilitate their graduation from Carleton,” wrote the Class of 1975 Gift Committee in a description of the spirit of their gift. “[We] are grateful for our opportunities to have experienced and benefited from a Carleton education. We are mindful that our initial class size was 480, but only 350 of us graduated from Carleton. We don’t know all the reasons that our classmates left, but we acknowledge our own academic and social struggles at Carleton, appreciate the lessons we learned, and are grateful for our liberal arts education.”

“This gift exemplifies one of the qualities I most appreciate in Carleton alumni, which is that they are forward-looking,” President Alison Byerly said. “The First at Carleton Fund shows the Class of 1975’s thoughtful understanding of the challenges faced by today’s students, and I am very grateful for their insight and support.”

Nationwide, first-generation students — those whose parents or guardians did not obtain a bachelor’s degree — are about half as likely to graduate as those with a parent or guardian who completed college, according to research from FirstGen Forward, an organization dedicated to fostering success for first-generation students that recently named Carleton a Network Champion for advancing first-generation efforts. Carleton’s graduation rate for first-generation and low-income students is among the highest in the nation at 90 percent.

Vice President for Inclusion, Equity, and Community Dina Zavala will oversee the administration of the First at Carleton Fund.

“The Class of 1975’s gift to the College fits perfectly with our institutional mission, and shows that the Carleton community is passionate about building an inclusive community of students representing many points of view and diverse personal experiences,” Zavala said. “Students from all backgrounds can thrive at Carleton, in part thanks to alumni generosity like this.”

The fund is designed to be broad and flexible, in order to eliminate barriers and make it easier to help as many students as possible. Examples of what the fund could be used for include: orientation and programs for first-generation students and their families; mentoring or academic support; workshops and programs to strengthen study skills, health and well-being, and financial literacy; financial assistance to attend conferences, off-campus programs, or global experiences; social events and other activities that foster community; career guidance and life skills workshops; graduation events; activities that foster engagement with first-generation alumni, faculty, and staff; and much more.

The flexibility of the fund will also help bridge the gap between first-generation students who are eligible for Carleton’s TRIO/SSS (Student Support Services) program, and those who are not due to limited federal funding. That bridge support will be crucial to allow every first-generation Carleton student to receive the support they need.

“We are so grateful alumni are stepping forward to invest in our students,” Director of TRIO Kim Hildahl said. “The Class of 1975’s commitment to first-generation student success comes at a meaningful and impactful time. This gift will help ensure our students have greater access to the resources, guidance, and opportunities they need to thrive in college and beyond.”

The Class of 1975’s 50th Reunion theme — Come Together — is reflected in this gift, which doesn’t just come from one alum. Big and small gifts from 56 percent of the class came together to create this extraordinary collective investment in current and future Carleton students. 

During their second planning meeting, the Class of 1975 heard from College leadership about many different kinds of opportunities they could support at Carleton, but the opportunity to support first-generation students stood out as especially important to the group.

Toni Carter ’75 and Kathie Culhane-Pera ’75, especially, spoke passionately about the transformational nature of this gift and led the charge in choosing it as their main support goal. It became such an inspiring idea that alumni from other class years have been moved to contribute to this fund.

“Our class was influenced by the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s,” Culhane-Pera said. “The committee wanted a project that was true to the values of our college years: addressing inequities and working for social justice. Focusing on first-generation students was a way to address multiple social inequities at once. We’re convinced that supporting first generation students to finish their liberal arts education can provide people with tools to develop their skills and contribute to the world.”

“First-gen students, like me, may not have benefitted from the occasional kitchen table coaching — about challenges, opportunities, and strategies for thriving while away at school — which is somewhat routine for students whose parents graduated from college,” Carter added. “This fund will provide additional resources to support the College in its robust efforts to unveil and unlock the full Carleton experience for first-generation students — to help them thrive, on or off campus, and remain to graduate from Carleton.”

Gifts from the Class of 1975 will support many other initiatives at Carleton that touch the first-generation experience, including endowed scholarships, scientific research and field experiences, off-campus studies, interdisciplinarity, accessibility, academic departments and athletics, and unrestricted funds through the endowment and the Alumni Annual Fund (AAF).

“Nothing is more important to the ongoing success of the College than our ability to admit the best students, regardless of their family’s income or prior experience with higher education,” Byerly said. “By expanding support specifically for the College’s first-generation students, the Class of 1975 is not only supporting their own Carleton community; they are supporting the entire endeavor of high-quality, broad-based liberal arts education for anyone who wants it.”

Erica Helgerud ’20 is the news and social media manager for Carleton College.