by Christi Mathis
CARBONDALE, Ill. — James Reiman thinks he’ll be the first in his family to earn a baccalaureate degree when he walks across the stage at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Saturday to claim his agribusiness economics diploma.
Photo by Russell Bailey
If he is, he laughs that it’s only because J comes before T in the alphabet as his mother Tibretta Reiman will also be receiving her bachelor’s degree at the 9 a.m. commencement Saturday. She has earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational learning, innovation, and development (previously known as workforce education and development).
“I think it’s pretty rare and special to both be getting our degrees at the same time,” James said. “I think her story especially is extremely inspiring. There’s this big misconception in the world that you somehow miss that window to attend college and life gets away from you and it can’t happen. But through perseverance and hard work, she has proven that it’s never too late.”
Getting to walk across the stage during the same ceremony as her son is very “special and cool”, Tibretta said.
Dual SIU journey
James and Tibretta, both of Pinckneyville, Illinois, took parallel and yet quite different pathways toward their educational dreams. James became a Saluki upon graduating from high school in 2022 – and while living at home and working nearly full-time at Bigham Farms, completed his degree with a combination of on-campus and online coursework.
A circuitous and considerably longer route comprised Tibretta’s route to a diploma. She attended Rend Lake College after high school but quit because “as we know, sometimes ‘life happens,’ and that can delay your plans.”
She’s proud of her professional success, currently serving as the corporate secretary for the SIU Alumni Association, but in recent years, began pondering completing her degree. The COVID-19 pandemic was the final push she needed.
“It was tough going back to school after several years,” she said. “A lot has changed in education since my days at RLC. There was definitely a learning curve in getting used to the online curriculum and the software.”
She credits her son with helping her navigate the technology, including D2L, because as a completely online student, that expertise was crucial. He also assisted by reviewing her writing and offering input before she submitted assignments.
“I’m certain he got frustrated at times with doing all of that,” she said.
James, in turn, said his mom was “tremendously” helpful on his Saluki journey.
“My best friend passed away my first semester at SIU and Mom was incredibly supportive for me and all of my friends,” he said. “She was basically the ‘team’ mom. She even helped get my friend back to his family in California. This last semester, I was totally online and numerous times she carried things back and forth to campus for me.”
Tibretta said she and her family have faced a variety of challenges while pursuing their degrees, from caring for family members to having deaths in the family, plus her own health issues last year, but through it all, the campus community has been there for them.
“Overall, it has been great,” she said. “With all of that, my professors, especially Casheena Stephens (clinical associate professor in the College of Business and Analytics) and Josh Houston (communication studies senior lecturer) have been wonderful.”
Shared experience
James said some of his best memories of his time at SIU involve attending SIU Alumni Association events and helping his mom. He said he’s enjoyed networking with Molly Hudgins, executive director of the SIU Alumni Association, and Jeff Gleim, associate vice chancellor for development and alumni relations at SIU and chief operations offer for the SIU Foundation. Best of all was traveling to Indiana with his mom for the Saluki Takeover Tour and SIU alumni tailgate at Purdue University last fall.
Tibretta proudly noted that one semester she took a full course load and both of them still managed to make the Dean’s List. She also speaks fondly of that fun Indiana mother-son adventure, as well as having her son volunteer to help with SIU’s alumni homecoming tailgate, shutting down the strip and more.
“We plan to be at the SIU versus U of I (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) game this fall to continue making memories,” Tibretta said.
Proud Salukis
Tibretta said selecting SIU to complete her degree was an easy choice, and not just because she works there.
“SIU is a great institution with a long history of successful graduates,” she said. In addition, my degree program was completely online and basically in our own backyard. Former Chancellor John M. Dunn encouraged me in 2019 to continue my higher education, saying it’s never too late to do so.”
James was a standout athlete in high school, even playing baseball games in SIU’s Itchy Jones Stadium — and he initially considered going away from home to play ball in college.
But as his dad, Randy Reiman, shared memories of his own time at SIU, James realized that going to college near home gave him the flexibility and financial stability he wanted, including the ability to keep working a job he loves. Honestly, the university excellence scholarship helped, too.
“SIU set me up well for success,” James said. He also thanked this girlfriend Adison Lange for believing in him, and his boss, Greg Bigham, for flexible scheduling that kept him working through his college years.
“This is a very emotional time for me,” Tibetta said. “Being proud of James – him graduating with honors, all while working nearly full time – plus his woodworking business. I’m prouder of him than I am of myself, and I want this commencement weekend to be very special for him.”
The next page
This mother and son are not done with SIU. Tibretta plans to maintain her current position and maybe pursue a master’s degree. Eventually, she may seek a career change, moving to something closer to her field of study. “Ideally, it would be in some capacity within human resources,” she said.
James will be a student again this fall – this time pursuing his MBA. His goal is a career in credit analysis and risk assessment for a large bank or financial firm.
“My dream job would be as an agricultural relationship manager for a large bank or financial firm.”
Tibretta and James are confident their dreams can come true, thanks to their alma mater and hard work.