Our First-Generation Initiative is a seamless system of Lasallian education from middle school through college graduation.  In keeping with our Lasallian mission “to provide a human and Christian education for the young, especially the poor,” this program is dedicated to providing college access and success to students from underserved communities whose parents did not have the opportunity to attend college.

Brother President William Mann, in his inaugural address on September 28, 2008, announced his intention to serve economically challenged students: 

I’ve instructed the Cabinet to explore the expansion of our efforts to make Saint Mary’s affordable to mid- and lower-economic families… I’d love to make it easier for graduates of the Miguel, Nativity, and Cristo Rey schools of our Region to enroll and succeed at Saint Mary’s.

This is why Saint John Baptist de La Salle founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools… We were founded upon the conviction that no young person and no family — no matter how economically, affectively, intellectually, or spiritually in need — should ever have cause to think that they have been forgotten, should ever have to wonder whether or not this family has been passed over by God, or by the rest of us.