The Black community at UCLA was small and intimate. Billy and Rubye made lifelong and close friendships with their classmates, many of which lasted as long as their 66-year-long marriage.

UCLA yearbook photos, 1951.

In the 1940s and 1950s, when America’s culture and society were proverbial and actual battlegrounds, UCLA was a haven for smart, talented, kind and caring leaders that envisioned, developed, pursued and accomplished transformative changes as significant as those of graduates from any university in the world. The list of notable Black alumni from the period includes Jackie Robinson, Tom Bradley, Yvonne Braithwaite Burke and Diane Watson.

After graduating from the UCLA College in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Billy went on to become the first Black graduate of UCLA Law School in 1954. He served honorably in the U.S. Army, was a father of five (including twin girls), and was one of the first Black members of the Los Angeles City Council (District 8). In 1974, he was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court, where he served with distinction for 15 years. He was awarded the UCLA Alumni Association Public Service Award in 2003.

Rubye became a mother of five, joined the Los Angeles Unified School District as a teacher, and obtained her master’s degree in education as well as her doctorate of education from UCLA. She was a school principal and retired as an administrator for LAUSD in 1989. Both Billy and Rubye served in leadership with numerous civic organizations; Rubye passed away in 2017.

Their children hope that Billy and Rubye Mills will stand as symbols of service, family and achievement, of which UCLA was a significant incubator. Our parents loved UCLA, the times they had there, the friends they made and the doors it opened for them. They couldn’t be prouder to be UCLA alumni.

Submitted by William K. Mills and Karol Mills