Heritage University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Heritage University to hold Class of 2026 Commencement at Yakima Valley SunDome

Yakima, Wash. – Heritage University will celebrate the Class of 2026 at Commencement on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Yakima Valle...

Leadership restructuring reflects commitment to diverse and inclusive executive team

President Chris Gilmer has announced a series of leadership promotions and administrative updates that both strengthen university operations and reflect a clear commitment to diversifying Heritage University’s senior leadership team.

Four of the five indivi...

John “Jack” Bloxom Jr.

Philanthropist, business leader, and longtime supporter and friend to Heritage University, John “Jack” Bloxom Jr., passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 92.

Bloxom’s commitment to Heritage University and its students goes back more than 40 years. In the early 1980s, when he first hear...

Growing up in rural Mississippi, Heritage University President Chris Gilmer knew people who experienced hunger. He learned from his mother that it was important to do something about it.

“Folks would come by seeking donations for their church, and my mother would greet them at the door,” Gilmer said. “She’d always ask one question: ‘Do you feed the people?’” If...

For more than two decades, Shawnta DiFalco has answered the same call: go where you’re needed.

That call has taken the Heritage alumna into wildfire zones across Washington state, flood- ravaged communities, and combat deployments in Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan. It has placed her in command of hundreds of soldiers and millions of dollars in resources. And...