Concord University Athens, West Virginia Overcoming Stereotypes Long before Sarah Beasley became Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Concord University, she wrote her doctoral dissertation on the experience of first-generation college goers who grew up in rural, low-income communities in and around the coal fields of West Virginia near Concord. Beasley’s research found that many of those students fail to persist and earn degrees in part because they lack role models and feel out of place. “There’s a saying in West Virginia that ‘you can’t get above your raising,’” Beasley said. “West Virginia has one of the lowest education attainment rates in the country, and often going to college means leaving behind your families and communities.” Many rural studen

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