10/28/2025
By Jullie Nash

When La’Tonya Rease Miles was in third grade, a homeroom teacher said: “You are smart, and you are going to college.” A shy, nerdy, sports-loving, only child of a working-class, teenage single mom, she wondered next: “How does a smart Black girl get to college?”

A pioneer of first-generation studies, longtime practitioner of university initiatives for first-generation students at several U.S. colleges, and dynamic advocate of first-generation representation on social media, in mass media, and within popular culture, “Dr. LT,” as she is affectionately called, did not actually know she was “first-gen” for much of her life.

In her memoir, she traces the (sound)tracks of her life as she journeys through myriad K-12 public schools (nine) and several college experiences (three) toward a doctorate and beyond, battling self-doubt, racism, “impostor syndrome,” and “survivor’s guilt” to transform the higher education landscape for herself, her family, and community.

Join Dr. LT on October 29 for a conversation about her book and her story.

Details:
"Smart Girl: A First Gen Origin Story" by La'Tonya Rease Miles
October 29
2 p.m.
Middlesex Community College (MCC) Academic Arts Building, 240 Central Street, Lowell

Transportation is available from South Campus. A bus will leave at 1:15 p.m. in front of Allen House and return after the book signing.

Co-sponsored with Middlesex Community College, this event is open to the public, but space is limited, so please register online. 

Free copies of the book will be given to all UMass Lowell attendees!