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Forever

Carol Provost Gruber ’65 and Judy Provost Bonilla ’68 come from a long line of Redlands alumni who bleed maroon and gray and a family that always chanted “Och Tamale” at gatherings. They are the daughters of alums Eppie Piety Provost ’40 and Pete Provost ’40, a former baseball and basketball coach at the University. Sam Piety ’34 and Bill Piety ’69 are their uncle and cousin respectively.

It seems there are only six degrees of separation when it comes to Redlands connections for Carol and Judy. While attending a University Board of Trustees dinner earlier this year, they met Ginnie and Rich Hunsaker ’52 and figured out that Ginnie and Judy had met before. Ginnie remembered Judy was the little girl that gave her a daisy as part of the Delta Kappa Psi Daisy Ring ceremony.

“We still even have the photo!” Judy said.

Carol and Judy share a love for Redlands as well as for science.

“Education is so important—especially women in science,” Judy said.

“I’ve always encouraged women to go into science and math,” Carol said.

Carol and Judy both had successful careers in science and they are thankful to the education they received at Redlands. “My experience at the University was wonderful,” Judy said. Carol was the only female chemistry major in her class and Judy was the only geology major in her class.

As part of their commitment to Redlands, Carol and Judy have previously supported the “Campaign for the Sciences” and most recently they established generous charitable gift annuities that will help fund the Piety Endowed Scholarship and the Piety Research Fund. This scholarship and fund, created by their cousin Bill Piety, fund research related to environmental protection, conservation and preservation. Their parents, Pete and Eppie, started the tradition by establishing their own charitable gift annuity several years ago.

Judy stays connected to the University by attending reunions and Carol most recently took part in Bulldogs in Service Day by volunteering at the Casa de Amparo, a child development center in Oceanside, Calif., where Carol reacquainted with her Alpha Sigma Pi sisters.