For the Avila family, education has always been a team effort. From early morning school drop-offs to late-night dissertation edits, learning has been a shared experience every step of the way. Those steps led Heather Avila ’25 and her son Ruben Avila ’25 to the University of Redlands commencement stage on April 25, where Heather received her Doctorate in Education in Leadership for Educational Justice and Ruben received his Bachelor of Arts in Race and Ethnic Studies. Cheering from the audience was Heather’s youngest son, Louis “Louie” Avila ’27, who is working towards completing his double major in race and ethnic studies and political science. “The three of us have always done school together,” Heather said. “As a teacher and a coach, they would follow me to school. I was pregnant with them while in school, so they’ve always been with me, and being at Redlands is a natural progression of that.” Read the full story: https://www.redlands.edu/bulldog-bites/2025/family-matters #BulldogBites #URBulldogs25 #Commencement #UniversityofRedlands #UofR (fb)

With relentless determination, our graduate students have achieved their extraordinary goal. We don’t know what their next chapters are, but we’re excited to find out. Congratulations Class of 2025 🎓✨ #URBulldogs25 (fb)