Graduation day will be an especially memorable event for two Ashford University students. When students of the Clinton university receive their diplomas on Sunday at ceremonies in the Quad Cities, a son and his mother will be among them.

Twenty-two-year-old Joseph Lightfoot of Kankakee, Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree in sports and recreation management from Ashford. His mother, Claudia Cattage, will receive a master of arts degree in education. Lightfoot transferred to Ashford as a junior to play basketball.

Cattage, a lead Head Start teacher in Chicago, chose Ashford’s online program to earn her master’s degree.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport