Senator Vargas Visits UNO

Senator Tony Vargas, representing District 7 in southeastern Omaha, recently visited the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).

During his time on campus, Vargas sat down for a roundtable event with first-generation students and Student Success staff.

The group represented the Thompson Learning Community, Goodrich Scholarship Program, Dreamer's Pathway, Young Scholars, the UNO Success Academy, TRIO Project Achieve and Multicultural Affairs.

Vargas said he was both inspired by the students' resilience and grateful for how honest they were about their needs.

"They're quick to praise a lot of the great things that are happening, but they also recognize that we want to see more opportunities," Vargas said. "More opportunities for shared spaces for people from different groups that are underrepresented, more opportunities for individuals to get more mentoring and support in the first couple years - because those are the hardest years."

"We need staff and individuals helping these students because we need every single one of them to graduate," he continued.

UNO has a longstanding tradition of supporting first-generation students. Today, roughly four in every 10 Mavericks are the first in their families to pursue higher education.

Visit Campus

All government officials and legislative candidates are welcome to visit campus to better understand UNO, our impact on the state and faculty's varied areas of expertise. Contact UNO University Communications at ucomm@unomaha.edu to schedule your visit.