Katie Holmes and Jennifer Garner Reunite with Their College Girls Suri and Violet for Summer Break

Last May, a teary Jennifer Garner posted a photo of herself crying at daughter Violet Affleck’s high school pre-graduation sendoff ceremony. “Tell me you have a graduate without telling me you have a graduate,” the 13 Going on 30 star, 53, wrote in the emoji-filled caption, adding, “Bless our hearts.” Before sending her only child, Suri Cruise, off to college last fall, Katie Holmes was similarly misty. “I’m proud of my daughter,” the 46-year-old told Town & Country in August. “Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her, and I’m happy.”

Time flies! Now both 19, Violet, who attends Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and Suri, a student at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, have finished their freshman year and are back home for the summer — for better or worse!

On May 19, Suri, Katie’s daughter with ex Tom Cruise, 62, was spotted carrying bags into the NYC apartment she shares with her mom, while the day before, Violet published a college paper — in which she criticized her parents’ reaction to January’s L.A. fires (dad is Jennifer’s ex-husband Ben Affleck, 52). “They all went through some growing pains,” an insider tells Star. “But it’s nice to have the kids home again.”

Student Activist

Even before she went off to school, the big sister to Fin, 16, and 13-year-old Samuel was what her mom called a “self-starter.” In July 2024, Violet, who has a post-viral condition, spoke out at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, arguing against banning masks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, she accompanied her mom to a state dinner in Washington, D.C., honoring French president Emmanuel Macron. “Ben and Jen are so proud of her for expressing her opinions,” says the insider. “And sticking to them.” (Indeed, the teen can often be seen wearing a mask in public.)

But in her research paper, published in Yale’s Global Health Review, the rising sophomore called out her mom, recalling arguing with her in an L.A. hotel room as fires raged in the city, ultimately destroying more than 16,000 structures and killing at least 29 people. Struck by Jen’s shocked reaction to the calamity, Violet wrote, she was confused by her reaction. “As a lifelong Angelena and climate-literate member of generation Z, my question had not been whether the Palisades would burn but when.” Samuel wasn’t any more climate-literate, she added. “‘Did global warming have to do with the speed of the wind?’” she said he asked. She continued, “Hopefully, most of us understand the climate crisis better than my little brother.” While the source says Jen was taken aback by the shaming, she admires Violet’s conviction. “Jen and Ben are going to love her no matter what,” says the insider. “They believe Violet can do anything she sets out to accomplish, and will likely have an important role on a global scale.”

First, she has to negotiate with her sibs, who had the run of the family for the school year. “It’ll take a bit of adjusting for Fin and Samuel,” notes the insider. “They won’t like being bossed around by their older sister!”

City Girl

As for Suri, the insider says she’s looking forward to reconnecting with her NYC pals this summer. “Suri made a lot of friends and did well in her studies” at CMU, says the insider. “Now she wants to hang out with friends and explore what New York has to offer in terms of culture and entertainment.” Her mom, who starred in Broadway’s Our Town while Suri was away, no doubt will give her blessing. In 2022, she opened up about life in the city with her girl. “What I love about New York is that for me and my child, this is our vibe,” she told InStyle. “When there are 25 things to do every night, it takes you out of your own thing.”

And it may provide the teen with career inspiration. “Suri is said to be majoring in design,” explains the insider. “Katie might encourage her to get an internship over the summer to give her hands-on experience and help build up her contacts.” Either way, the Dawson’s Creek alum is thrilled to have her daughter back. “There was definitely a feeling of an empty nest at home,” explains the insider. Yet having her fledgling home from college might sometimes get bumpy. “After a year away, it will be a challenge for Suri to get used to living in mom’s house with mom’s rules again,” says the insider. “And Suri’s probably developed some habits and views that Katie may find interesting!”