Rising Class: How Three First-Generation College Students Conquered Their First Year by Jennifer Miller is the 2024 campuswide common read. This book was chosen because it connects with and reflects the experiences of so many on campus: undergraduates who had their college experiences shifted by COVID, first-generation college students, and first-generation immigrant students. It will also be impactful for those working with students and others interested in learning about the lived experiences of others.

Rising Class follows three first-generation freshmen, Briani, Conner, and Jacklynn, as they not only experience their first semester of college, but the COVID-19 pandemic that turned their Spring semester upside down. From life in the ivy league to classes at a community college, this nonfiction book follows these students' challenges, successes, and dreams as they tackle their first year of college and juggle responsibilities to their families back home.

Jennifer's keynote speech will be in the John Tyson Building Auditorium 211 at 5:30 p.m. on October 8.