2022 FIRST-GEN ESSAY CONTEST – DEADLINE NOV. 11, 2022

The Black Mountain Institute, The Intersection, and the MSI Student Council are excited to announce the First-Generation Student Essay Contest for 2022. The contest is part of the UNLV 2022 First-Gen Celebration.

About: Any first-generation UNLV undergraduate or graduate professional student can enter this contest. Students must choose a prompt and write a short personal essay. Essays should be 500 words long. The essay should address the writer’s life-experience.

Details: Essays will be read and judged by a panel of writers and editors at the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) in the College of Liberal Arts. Awards will be given … Read More

“Count Us In: Ethnicity Data Disaggregation” MSISC Initiative

MSISC member and 4th-year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Higher Education program: Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza.

Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza is an inaugural member of the Minority-Serving Institution Student Council (MSISC). She has many other qualifications and achievements, but this time, the work she has done to bring the “Count Us In: Ethnicity Data Disaggregation” to the fore is the focus. Below is an interview with Kristine about the initiative.

Tell us about yourself. Who are you and what do you do for the council?

I am a daughter, sister, partner, Ninang, Tita, and cousin. 

I’m Kristine Jan Cruz … Read More

COUNT US IN & MSISC MEMBER FEATURED ON KNPR

By Kristine Jan Espinoza

Kristine Jan Espinoza | People | University of Nevada, Las Vegas

If you tuned into KNPR 88.9 FM on Wednesday, January 19th, at 9 am or 7 pm PST, you may have caught a snippet of an MSI Student Council member!

Race. Racial categories. Racialized categories. US Census. What are these terms and their continued complicated use today, especially when it comes to “counting” diversity? What is the history of the US Census at the use and counting of race and ethnicity?

Late Fall 2020, I interviewed with Sonja Cho Swanson, the talented Executive Producer of Exit Spring Mountain, a podcast hosted on Nevada Public Radio (KNPR; … Read More

A FIRST-GEN’S TIP FOR SUCCESS: ASK FOR HELP

Keren Jean-Charles works through the university’s Minority-Serving Institution Student Council to help other students thrive at UNLV.

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Keren Jean-Charles is a first-generation university student striving to advance UNLV’s “serving” mission as a minority-serving institution. The junior psychology major is actively involved in student organizations and projects that elevate students’ voices and their role in shaping the college experience for traditionally underrepresented students.

Tell us about yourself.

Both of my parents are from Haiti, and my siblings and I are first-generation college students. I’m an artist and have been one my entire life. I create art … Read More

2021 FIRST-GENERATION ESSAY CONTEST

The MSI Student Council and The Intersection are excited to announce the Second Annual First-Generation Student Essay Contest. The contest is part of the UNLV 2021 First-Generation Campus-wide Celebration. The deadline to submit is Friday, November 12, 2021.

Details: Any first-generation UNLV student can enter this contest by picking one of these terms and writing a short personal essay inspired by it. Essays should be 500 words long. The essay should address the writer’s life experience in some way. 

There will be six winners: 3 undergraduate and three graduate or professional students winning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively. Each … Read More