College isn’t normally a family activity, but for one IU father-daughter duo, that’s exactly what it was.
Reggie Johnson and Liv Clements, a father and daughter from Bloomington, are graduating together at “Black Grad” on Friday at the IU Auditorium. After four years spent together studying, struggling and learning side-by-side, they’ll walk across the stage, one after the other.
Johnson worked at IU for two decades before becoming a student himself. He said his daughter’s enrollment showed him an opportunity to pursue his own education.
“I didn't come here to be next to her and follow her through her college career or anything like that,” Johnson said. “I came here to try to, you know, get this education for myself. It was a bonus that she was here with me and able to support me.”
Each year, they started the school year with a first-day photo together — recently, they took graduation photos side-by-side.
For Clements, going to college with her dad made sense.
“It just feels normal,” she said. “It doesn't feel like we would do it without each other, because we are so close that it made sense that we do something like this together."
Their closeness showed up in small moments in classes, like the summer they spent taking finite math together. Johnson often found himself relying on Clements to help him understand the homework.
“My daughter was teaching me how to solve finite problems, and most people kind of think like, ‘Oh, the parents should be the smartest,’” Johnson said. “Like she would pick on me about not finishing, and I would make fun of her for being too fast.”
Clements remembered the summer, saying the two did not leave Bloomington. All they did was study for finite math.
“We would study together, and we hate our lives, but we were doing it together, and we survived,” Clements said. “I don't think either of us literally would have passed it without having the other person.”
Clements is graduating with a degree in sports media, while Johnson is earning one in tourism, hospitality and event management. Both are currently job hunting.
Johnson said he is proud of his daughter’s hard work and accomplishments throughout college.
“The most exciting part about being finished is that now she gets to go out, and I get to see how she can grow as an individual on a real personal level,” he said.
For Clements, this moment is about something bigger than her accomplishments, it's a chance to celebrate her dad.
“I did the normal route,” Clements said. “I went to college. I did the four years. But to say you went at 45 with three kids, and you're graduating from the place where you started. No one can beat a story like that.”
