The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
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The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
A lesson in social movements, protests and polarization
The UC Irvine Podcast
22 minutes 8 seconds
6 months ago
A lesson in social movements, protests and polarization
Social movements – and the protests they give rise to – have happened on American soil since before the country’s establishment as an independent nation. On Dec. 16, 1773, American colonists demonstrated their dissatisfaction with British tax policies by dressing in disguise and dumping 342 chests – around 92,000 pounds – of valuable tea into Boston Harbor. Originally known as “the Destruction of the Tea,” the event was later nicknamed “the Boston Tea Party.”
In this century, we’ve seen part of that moniker repurposed by the tea party movement, a group interested in lower taxes and decreased government spending who staged protests in over 750 U.S. cities on April 15, 2009 – Tax Day.
Social injustices, environmental issues and political concerns are just a few of myriad reasons people have organized protests over the course of history. David S. Meyer, UC Irvine professor of sociology, political science, and urban planning and public policy, is one of the nation’s top scholars on social movements. In this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Meyer leans on years of study to put today’s realities into historical perspective, analyze the current state of polarization and share what he’s learned about how action can spark change.
“Downpour,” the music for this episode, was provided by Patiño via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
The UC Irvine Podcast
The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
