According to the Center for First-Generation Student Success, November 8 represents the annual National First-Generation College Celebration "to honor the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 ... Much like other hallmark legislation of that era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, HEA was intended to help level a playing field that for too long had been weighed against Americans from minority and low-income backgrounds ...