May 2, 2025
Mother-daughter duo to graduate on the same day.
Angel Williams and daughter Caijanai “Cai” Gates plan to wear matching outfits for Mother’s Day this year. Both will don a cap and gown for Ursuline College’s Commencement on May 11 at the Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Center.
For Williams, this is her second time wearing Ursuline’s blue and yellow colors.
She earned her undergraduate degree in nursing 14 years ago when she was a single parent who worked nights as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). Occasionally you would find her on campus with her three young children for visits to the library or meetings with her academic advisor. The now-grown Cai will be by her side again as the mother-daughter duo take turns crossing the stage to pick up their degrees: a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) for mom and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology for her middle child.
“I tell people that my kids were going to Ursuline before they were going to Ursuline,” jokes Williams whose youngest daughter, Anjoel, just completed her freshman year in the College’s nursing program.
“When I first came to Ursuline College, I was worried that people would judge me about being a single mom.” states Williams. “But everyone was so supportive and welcoming. I had great teachers and mentors who just wanted me to be my best self. And the same was true when I went for my doctorate.”
Williams, a family nurse practitioner with two master’s degrees, works at MetroHealth caring for with people living with obesity. She began her DNP classes during the COVID pandemic. “I decided to take advantage of the world being shut down.”
During that time her mother April Gary, a 2015 Ursuline alumna, became ill. Angel interrupted her studies to care for her parent, who died in June 2023.
“She said she was inspired to go back to school after I finished my undergraduate,” Williams remembers. “She was so proud that I was getting my doctorate. Before she passed, she told me, ‘finish it.’ ”
Williams, who hopes to be a professor, offered that same encouragement to her own daughter.
In high school, Cai experienced some depression and anxiety which worsened in college during the pandemic. Both her mental wellbeing and her grades suffered. “My academic advisors suggested I take a break, get healthy and think about what I excited me,” she explains. “With their encouragement and my mom’s support, I returned to Ursuline after a semester off and changed majors.”
Cai notes that her journey still had its challenges.
She adds, “After I told my academic advisor, Dr. Thomas Frazier, that my grandmother passed and I was having a rough semester, he said, ‘Let’s get you graduated.’ He was one of the main people that made me feel like I belonged at Ursuline. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for him.”
And now there’s no stopping this soon-to-be third-generation Ursuline graduate.
The 24-year-old is enrolled this fall in Tiffin University’s online master’s degree in psychology program with emphasis on neuroscience. She hopes to eventually earn her PhD. When she’s not hitting the books, Cai can be found at her job as a case worker assisting women as they rebuild their lives after surviving domestic violence. Previously, she worked at a social service agency as a youth advocate. Cai states, “I found my passion at Ursuline and it’s helping people.”
Over the past year, she even helped to her mother a little. “I would proofread her papers sometimes,” smiled Cai, who commuted to college from her mom and stepdad Kelly’s home. “But really, we helped each other. She would check on me to make sure I was going to class. I would check to see if she was doing her coursework.”
Together they will be celebrating their many triumphs for years to come.
