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ATLANTA — The Graduate School at Georgia State University recently hosted a ceremony honoring the first cohort of First in Family Scholarship recipients.
The Nov. 6 event spotlighted the six scholarship recipients and First in Family founding donor Rosalynne Price (Ph.D. ’86), and was attended by faculty, staff, students, their families and university leadership, including Georgia State President M. Brian Blake, First Lady Bridget Blake, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicolle Parsons-Pollard and Graduate School Dean Lisa Armistead.
“As the first in my family to earn an undergraduate degree, and then a graduate degree, I know first-hand the mix of pride and pressure that comes with blazing a new trail,” M. Brian Blake said in his remarks. “Each of you has earned your place in this community and have the tools, leadership and community to be successful in your program and career. Your success will light the path for others.”
The First in Family Scholarship is part of the First in Family Graduate Initiative, which was launched this year to celebrate and expand access for first-generation graduate students and cultivate support networks to help them succeed. More than 38 percent of GSU graduate students are the first in their family to seek a postgraduate degree, which is more than 10 percent above the national average. The Graduate School received more than 500 applications for the first year of the First in Family Scholarship.
“This initiative is a model of what innovation in action at Georgia State looks like — it is intentional, it is thoughtful and it is rooted in passion,” Parsons-Pollard said. “To our inaugural First in Family Scholarship recipients, you represent the very best of what Georgia State stands for: opportunity, excellence and transformation.”
Beyond its impact on GSU students, the First in Family Graduate Initiative also supports all four strategic objectives in the university’s BluePrint to 2033 strategic plan: student success, college to career, innovation and research, and identity, placemaking and belonging.
“Each First in Family Scholarship recipient’s journey reflects courage, determination and commitment to something greater. Being first in family is more than a milestone — it’s a legacy of resilience and purpose,” Armistead said. “This initiative will offer our graduate students access to scholarships, community and professional development. Most importantly, it affirms these students' identities and fosters a sense of belonging consistent with Georgia State's strategic plan.”
“We are grateful to Dr. Rosalynne Price for making this possible through her generous philanthropic support.”
In addition to being a graduate alumna, Price is a long-time supporter of Georgia State. Her decades of giving to GSU were inspired by a donor-funded scholarship she received while pursuing her doctorate in instructional technology at Georgia State. She credits that support with changing her graduate journey and motivating her to invest in the university and its students — including the gift she made with her husband, William "Buddy" Price, that launched the First in Family Graduate Initiative.
“Being first in our family to pursue postgraduate education — and in countless other ways — means each of us is unique, and that uniqueness is what makes us special. It makes you someone we want to invest in,” Rosalynne Price said. “Before I was even fully vested in my doctoral program, Georgia State invested in me through providing a scholarship and educational support activities. After Georgia State invested in me, I began to see ways I could invest in the university and its students through the companies where I worked and did my research.”
The inaugural cohort of First in Family Scholarship awardees are:
“I’m appreciative of the First in Family Scholarship and the financial help it will provide for my family and for my research and dissertation. The overall initiative speaks to what Georgia State is really trying to do to support students like me,” Barnes said. “The First in Family Graduate Initiative shows that the university recognizes that, although we might be first, we’re treading a path for other students to follow.”
“We recognize that the journey to graduate school is rarely straightforward and that behind every first-in-family student there's a network of loved ones, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends whose encouragement, sacrifices and belief have helped to make this moment possible,” Bridget Blake said. “Each First in Family Scholarship recipient carries a story of possibility — one that inspires us to continue building programs that lift students up, connect them to mentors and make them feel at home here at GSU.”