First generation students were inducted into the new Hamline chapter of Alpha Alpha Alpha National Honor Society amongst friends and family at a ceremony celebrating their achievements and the creation of new traditions.
Alpha Alpha Alpha, or Tri-Alpha, is a national honor society for first generation students that recognizes students’ hard work and connects them to each other, faculty, staff and alumni members nationally. Currently, 42% of the undergraduate students at Hamline are first generation students. Associate Dean of Students, Carlos Sneed administered the event and applied for a Tri-Alpha chapter for Hamline. Being a first generation student himself, Sneed is aware of how important support is for students who are learning it all as they go.
“Sometimes being a first gen[eration] student can be awful isolating. It’s a hidden experience until you start talking about it,” Sneed said. “Fortunately, at Hamline we’ve been talking about it and providing a space for students to share their experiences and to find others and to see it as a badge of honor versus as a deficit.”
For Sneed, this is precisely why it is important that first generation students receive a wide web of support, something that he says is a responsibility of Hamline’s as both a historic and inclusionary institution.

“These programs, these students, the initiatives that we put in place, the challenge and the push back that students bring to us individually or institutionally, provide an opportunity for us to really be who we say we are,” Sneed said.
A dinner for inductees and their support systems preceded the ceremony, and Carlos Sneed and Kareem Watts each delivered welcome speeches and shared information about Tri-Alpha. Watts spoke about Tri-Alpha’s logo containing a prominent star. The symbol of the star held an impactful meaning for one honoree, junior Emma Marsland.
“It was really cool at the ceremony, they said the logo is a star because you’re a star shining, leading to make sure others can follow you into the college realm,” Marsland said.
The message resonated with Marsland, as she is creating new paths for herself and her family since leaving Ashland, Wis. to come to Hamline.
“I’m really proud to be [first generation] and kind of set the way,” Marsland said.
Director of the Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA), Kate Johnson led the inductees through an oath before each student collected a certificate and seniors received Tri-Alpha tassels.
The agreement Johnson read aloud for inductees as they entered Tri-Alpha emphasized the responsibility of being a leader that comes with being a part of the honor society.
“As a part of the first generation in your family to go to college, you are a source of pride and guidance to others,” Johnson said. “By accepting membership in the Tri-Alpha Honor Society, you recognize your responsibility to your family and to future generations of firsts to finish what you started to be their compass, leading them to their destination when the way seems uncertain, to be their light in darkness and to support others in their own journeys of firsts.”