Mother and daughter Tyra Jones-Williamson (left) and Temperance Blackman both accepted their diplomas during Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Mark Twain Building. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

With relentless determination and mutual admiration, Temperance Blackman and Tyra Jones-Williamson have carved out their own special type of generational legacy at the University of Missouri­–St. Louis.

They finished the final project for the capstone class of their bachelor’s degree – Information Systems Design 4850, with Professor of Information Systems Joe Rottman – on Tuesday and received their diplomas at the College of Business Administration commencement ceremony on Saturday. Every single person who walked across the stage during commencement weekend has their own personal, important UMSL story to tell, but nobody else has one quite like these two.

Blackman and Jones-Williamson are not just classmates, and they are not just friends, though they certainly are both of those things.

Their bond is deeper – they are mother (Tyra) and daughter (Temperance).

“That’s my twin,” Blackman said with a smile. “We literally look alike. Somebody stopped her in the hall the other day and said, ‘Hey, Temperance, did you fix that problem?’ And she was like, ‘Um, that’s my daughter!’”

The capstone class was only the second one they took together during their UMSL careers; the first was a coding class taught by Brian Lawton. Both came to the school with associate degrees in hand, but each had different class requirements needed to earn their degree. It was more than fitting, though, for the pair to be able to take the capstone class together.

“Having taught this class for decades, I have had children of former students, but never at the same time!” said Rottman, who is also the director of UMSL’s International Business Institute. “When Temperance mentioned that Tyra was her mom, at first, I thought she meant that Tyra had been a mentor, but then I understood what she meant. It was an amazing experience to have two generations in the same class. They each brought their own unique skills, experiences and passions to this course.”

Blackman and Jones-Williamson did other things together on campus – “We do everything together,” Blackman said – including hackathons and attending other clubs.

“She introduced me to the National Association of Black Accountants, and when I got involved, I was like, ‘Whoa, what is this?’” Jones-Williamson said. “Being part of that organization, I was able to go to Chicago, able to talk to people there. They taught me how to do an elevator pitch, which I didn’t know how to do, and also kind of sell myself through my resume. I’ve learned so much through that organization.”

Both are continuing their UMSL journeys, starting their master’s programs in January.

“In 2022, we decided to come back together and work towards our degree at the same time,” Blackman said. “We made it a goal for us to graduate at the same time. We helped each other through our classes. I think having someone there to share the college struggle with you is helpful. She kept me on track, as I did for her.”

Blackman, who is in the Accelerated Master’s program and on track to finish next December, has a job lined up at Accenture starting in March. She’s very excited, obviously.

“I’m going to be a technical analyst,” she said. “In this role I will create vision documents, requirements documents, user stories, test cases, test scripts and other documents in the software development lifecycle.

“I’ve always been a tinkerer with a love for solving challenges. From a young age, I realized that technology was the path I wanted to pursue. I began building computers and helping others with their tech issues, and the more I learned, the more intrigued I became. I’m excited to see what the future holds as I continue to explore and grow in the field.”

And she’s been around it her whole life, too. Her father, Jeremiah, is a jack of all trades who also  builds computers, and so does her husband, Devonte.

Blackman is one of three children, and therein lies her mom’s personal education motivation.

“I mainly started so all my children can graduate,” Jones-Williamson said. “I figured if I stay in school, maybe they’ll stay in school, too, and they’ll get their degrees and get into their professions, and they won’t stop. It has to start with me, so that’s what I was trying to do.

“My oldest daughter, Thia, ended up getting her RN license this year, and she’s going for her bachelor degree right now in nursing. Temperance is graduating and going on to get her master’s. And my son, Josiah, he’s getting his associate in May of next year. I feel like I’ve completed my goal.”

She isn’t done, though. She admits when she first started at UMSL, she wasn’t sure if she was going to graduate. But with Temperance by her academic side, and as she realized how much she enjoyed UMSL’s education experience, she decided that she would, in fact, complete her bachelor’s. And now, Jones-Williamson, who has always enjoyed working with numbers, is going to pursue her master’s, too.

“I picked information systems so I can mix the accounting element with computers,” she said. “I’m going to do financial technology for my master’s, and I want a job in that field. I’ve been working in a factory all my life, and I want to get out of the factory. It’s kind of hard, because people see how many years you’ve been in the factory, that you don’t have actual experience outside that.”

Blackman smiles when she thinks about her mom’s family-focused motivational tactics.

“I think that’s why I strive so hard,” Blackman said. “She’s told us, ‘You all need to surpass me.’ So when she was going to get her bachelor’s degree, I thought, ‘Well, you said surpasses so I have to get my master’s.’ And now she’s going for her master’s, so I think that means I’ve got to get my doctorate and my certificates, too.”

Professor of Information Systems Joe Rottman joins Jones-Williamson and Blackman at commencement on Saturday. Rottman taught the capstone class for the mother-daughter duo.

This has been an especially busy semester for Blackman. In addition to taking her capstone class with Rottman – who has taught the course for 24 years – she works weekends at the Nike Air Manufacturing Innovation location in Weldon Springs. Officially, she’s a plastics machine operator, but through her five-plus years on the job, she’s become the unofficial tech problem solver when she’s on duty. Asked if she likes solving problems, her answer is quick and succinct.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “It’s awesome.”

And in the most important life development to happen during the semester, she gave birth to her son, Elijah – the second boy for the Blackmans – in late October. She didn’t miss a class, even introducing her son to Rottman’s capstone class via Zoom the day he was born. Of course, her mom was at the hospital with her and joined via the Zoom call.

“I have a great support system: my husband, my mom, everybody around me is just there for me,” Blackman said. “That definitely makes this easier. I do have nights where I’m up with my 5-year-old. The other night, he would not go to sleep, and I’m like, ‘I’ve gotta get this paper done by the morning. OK, let me multitask.’”

She pauses, taking a well-earned breath.

“It’s just making me a better person,” she said. “I have something to fight for.”

Like mother, like daughter.