‘Pure chance’: 3 generations of women from one family graduating together from same college

OREM, Utah (KSTU) – This year marks Utah Valley University’s largest-ever graduating class.

For three of those graduates, this year’s commencement is extra special.

Before the May pomp and circumstance, there was a casual family conversation in late December.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m graduating.’ And my grandma was like, ‘I’m graduating too.’ Then my mom said, ‘I’m also graduating.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my!’ Just pure chance. We did not plan this at all,” Hadley Davis said.

“We were talking to each other and just realized, ‘Oh, I’m graduating! Oh, I’m graduating,’ and we just put it together and it just kind of happened,” Melissa Davis added.

Hadley Davis is earning her psychology degree in what most would consider the normal timeframe of four years. Her mother, Melissa Davis, who already has an undergraduate and a master’s degree in English, decided to earn a public health degree while working at Utah Valley University.

But for matriarch Diana Flygare, it took a little longer.

“Quite honestly, I think I’ve been trying to get a degree for nearly 40 years,” Flygare, who is earning a psychology degree, said.

Flygare actually graduated from high school at 16 and began taking community college courses at 17, but then, she said, life happened.

“Got married, had babies and life and things come up, and I just would take an occasional class here and there figuring it would all add up someday,” Flygare said.

Keeping her motivated to work toward that big day was something small she kept on her desk.

“It’s just a little Christmas ornament, and I thought when I graduate, I’ll put this on my tree,” Flygare said.

That will now happen next Christmas when all three will gather under Flygare’s tree.

“We have 14,000 graduates and change, and so these three are definitely special,” Sharon Turner, with Utah Valley University, said.

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which happened near the beginning of the school year, everyone involved in the graduation said this is a nice way to close out the year.

“I’ve been telling my friends and they’re like, ‘That’s so cool! We really need to hear a story like this that’s so positive,’ just because people need to hear it,” Hadley Davis said.

“It’s been a really tough year, and so I, personally, have been glad to find some joy here. We’ve got great students, faculty, staff. We’ve all tried to move forward and focus on education, so it’s a good end to kind of a hard year,” Melissa Davis said.

Copyright 2026 KSTU via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.

For more U.S. news, click here.