Columbia Love Stories 2014

“Bankole and I met at CUSSW because of a well-intentioned staff member named Byron. Byron and Bankole had become buddies as they worked in the CUSSW building together (Bankole was a computer technical assistant work study grad student from the FU School of Engineering). Over the course of my second year of social work school, Bankole began to inquire about me because he noticed that Byron and I were friendly. Eventually Byron asked me if I was single and interested in meeting anyone. I of course wanted to know who was asking and he mentioned that his friend "Banky" had been asking about me. I was open to meeting new people and shared that with Byron and a few weeks later Bankole approached me. We went out for a few informal lunches, but it did not seem to me like anything of substance was brewing. Finally in February 2005, right before Valentine's Day, we went out on our first official dinner date. It got off to a rocky start, because he was over a half hour late. I was so relieved when he called to let me know that he was running late because of car trouble and that he was determined to meet up with me no matter what. I was drawn to his energy and his drive even then. We went to the Cheese Cake Factory that night and have been together ever since! We were married on February 10, 2009 and followed with a formal ceremony on May 23, 2010. We added a little guy to our family named Zacchaeus Enitan O. on August 9, 2011.”

“I arrived at Columbia in the summer of 1984 a high school debate champion with a serious girlfriend back in Boston. So I was pretty sure I’d win a few arguments and I’d stay off of the dating scene. Almost immediately, I was challenged on both counts.

Living across the hall on Carmen 5 was a vivacious, sassy redhead named Whitney. We argued about everything – politics, sports, John’s Pizza versus V&T’s – and it’s fair to say she won at least as many as she lost. After one long night out with friends, we found ourselves alone together on the roof of East Campus as the sun rose. For a second, I thought we would kiss, but I pulled back.

We ended up great pals and that first kiss came a few years later in Ruggles. The relationship lasted just a few weeks, dissolving for reasons I can’t explain to this day.

After college, we both stayed in New York, worked downtown and saw each other all time until the inevitable arrival of other suitors strained our friendship. We both married, me briefly, she for longer. I got the Cliff Notes version of her life from mutual friends, an MBA, a move to Boston, a lovely daughter and son. I moved to D.C, worked as a reporter, traveled to Tokyo, Fairbanks, Amsterdam and Albuquerque. We finally reconnected at the 1999 wedding of another Columbia ’88 classmate, Sharon, and stayed in touch with occasional email.

One day, in April 2001, I found myself complaining to a colleague that as a single guy with no kids I’d be lucky to be a dad before I turned 40. “Maybe you’ll meet someone with kids,” he said. The next day -- really, the next day – I was talking with my brother about the imminent failure of my then-employer. “Maybe it’s time for you to move back to Boston,” he said. The next day, I realized that I’d miscalculated the date of Passover and asked for a few vacation days I didn’t need. “Oh well, maybe something will come up,” I thought to myself. That night(!), I got an email from Whitney. “I’ve had a really bad couple of months and I’m fairly sure that divorce will be the outcome.”

I used those extra days to go see her and, though it was just an innocent picnic, I left with one crystal clear thought in my mind: I’m going to marry Whitney and spend the rest of my life with her. It took another year or two to get her on board with my plan. We married in 2003 in the backyard of the house where she grew up and the next year had a beautiful daughter, Daisy, who is about to turn 10.

I don’t really believe in regrets, but I’ll admit there are times when I think: if only I had gotten it right on the roof of East Campus…But it’s not true, that wasn’t the universe’s plan for us. It never would have worked out with those two arguing kids we used to be. Instead it was the wildest, longest, greatest bank shot in history and one for which I’m forever grateful. Thanks, Big Blue, for getting the ball rolling, as it were.” 

“We met at the business school happy hour...and that was pretty much the extent of our love story. Seven years (five married), three battles against cancer, two devastating losses, one leap of faith to Asia, and the joyous surprise arrival of our now one-year old son later, we remain quite pleased with the choice we made to keep it in the CBS family.”

“We begin this love story with Harrison, who entered Columbia in 2010 in an intensive one-year Masters program in Engineering Management. As a busy Engineering student, Harrison didn't get to tackle the dating world as much as he wanted. But at University Commencement, 2011, Harrison saw a sign. Over in the last row of the Columbia Business School section of the bleachers, the ambitious entrepreneurs of datemyschool.com held up a banner advertising their site. That evening, Harrison created an account on datemyschool.com. But soon after, Harrison focused in on his job, his apartment hunt, and getting in shape that his profile became inactive.

About a year later, in the fall of 2012, Ariel started her Masters program in the Social Work at Columbia. Excited to meet someone new, she created a profile on datemyschool.com. She typed a search query of Columbia + Jewish, and up came a sea of hundreds of faces. Somehow, in that mix, she saw one that stood out that she messaged.

Harrison and Ariel quickly started Skyping together, and a week from that Monday they met for their first date, where they’d meet at 7 PM at Butler library. (Harrison was so excited, he went to Butler at 9 AM that morning to pick up a CUID alumni card!) Their first date was a casual stroll around campus, where Harrison showed Ariel all the libraries he used to study in around campus. Two weeks later, Harrison and Ariel returned to Columbia on another date, where they had their first kiss in front of the lion statue by Dodge.

Over the next year, Harrison and Ariel spent lots of time on campus as boyfriend and girlfriend. Ariel surprised Harrison with a gift card for Joe’s coffee, his favorite coffee shop on campus, and Harrison would surprise Ariel by meeting her at the Social Work building after her evening classes ended. They were falling in love, and Columbia was the setting for it!

On October 5, 2013, Harrison and Ariel were planning a special date. They spent the day getting their hair done and dressed up, all for a special dinner to celebrate one year of knowing each other. They went to the Central Park Boathouse for dinner, and had an excellent meal. After dinner, Harrison had a surprise for Ariel. He took her to Columbia, and walked her down College Walk to the sundial. There, at exactly 9 PM, Harrison got down on one knee and asked Ariel if she would marry him. Their best friends – who were also from their respective MS programs – were there to witness it all, and take photos. So what’s next for this Columbia couple? They’d love to have their wedding reception at Faculty House, but even if that doesn’t work out, they absolutely know what colors will be the theme of their wedding: Columbia blue and white.”

“It was the Fall of 1981 when I met her. Lisa was a freshman at Barnard and the suitemate of a good friend. I was to graduate in May and frankly, was ready to leave Columbia. Though I remember with fondness my core set of friends and can look back now and appreciate the education I received - to say that I enjoyed all of my years at Columbia would be a stretch. But Lisa seemed nice and as the year progressed, I thought it might be nice to get to know her better before I left college.

At the beginning of the second semester I attended one of her Political Science Classes – for the sole purpose of asking her out afterwards. After initially turning me down, she did accept a few days later after some coaxing from her suitemate. Our first date provided her ample warning of my true self as I dragged her all over Little Italy trying to find the perfect restaurant – a process that easily took close to two hours. But the flowers that I sent the next day for Valentine’s Day apparently made up for my peculiar behavior and we continued to date.

What followed in the next months changed my future. We shared long walks in Riverside Park, enjoyed dinners at Happy Burger and the Abbey Pub, frequently stopped for ice cream at the corner Häagen-Dazs, and never missed the chance to hear the singing duo of Rob and Wally.

After graduation I returned to my home in Wisconsin, only to find myself longing for a place I was somewhat anxious to leave just months earlier. Lisa and I shared a long distance relationship for the next few years. After her graduation, she came to the Midwest to attend Law School at the University of Chicago. I received my teaching certificate in Wisconsin and found a job in Illinois. We married in 1988, have two wonderful children and celebrated our 25th Anniversary last August in NYC – which appropriately included a trip back to 116th and Broadway.

Columbia – though at times a struggle for me, you ultimately made my life better than it otherwise would have been….You brought me to Lisa (and her to me) and in the end, that is what has mattered most.” 

“It was Friday, November 3, 1967. I was a sophomore when I met my wife, Barbara F. (Marymount ’71), at a mixer in the lobby of Furnald Hall. The room had been cleared and the lights dimmed, and a jukebox in the corner really set the mood. A bus dropped the Marymount ladies off on College Walk, and parked there to bring them back. I asked Barbara to dance, and took her for a drink at The Gold Rail. At the end of the mixer, Barbara and I parted with a kiss on College Walk. On the bus back to her campus in Tarrytown, Barbara told a friend that “if he ever calls again, I’ll marry him”. I did…and we did, on September 4, 1971. And we have been happily married ever since. Forty years after we first met, we helped our daughter, Mary D. (CC ’11, GSAS ’12) move into her first-year dorm. A proud family of Lions.”

“Brittany and Steven met at Columbia in early fall 2006 while studying Arabic. There probably wouldn’t have been many opportunities for the computer science and anthropology majors to meet if not for his interest in linguistics and her passion for other cultures and languages. They fell in love and have been inseparable ever since. They share a love of travel and take a trip every chance they get. Next up is Bali, Indonesia in May.” 

“Dental school may not sound like the most romantic place, yet that is where our love story began. I was a first year resident in the Periodontics post-graduate program in Columbia, while my (now) husband was in the middle of his second year at the College of Dental Medicine. On what was just another ordinary day, I was on schedule to assist with teaching half of the second year dental students how to do a basic dental cleaning. The other half would be learning on a different day with a different resident. And so, as luck, good fortune, and serendipity would have it, Bobby would be learning on the day I was teaching. Bobby would also happen to be in the specific section of the clinic where I was stationed. And last but not least, Bobby would volunteer as the “patient” on whom I would demonstrate how to do this most common of dental procedures. Several months after that first meeting, we went on our very first date. It did not take us very long to figure out that this was something very special, that we shared many values, as well as dreams and aspirations for the future, and that we needed each other to make them all reality. The first date quickly turned into a committed relationship. Bobby proposed two years later at the same place where we had our first date. We thank Columbia for not only being the beginning of our professional lives, but for giving us our love story as well.”

Gloria:

I was a graduate student at Columbia after discharge from the Women’s Army Corps, the WAC, using my GI Bill beginning September 1946, enrolled in the Department of Slavic Languages, chaired by Prof. Ernest Simmons, working toward an MA. In 1947 at CU we organized a Russian circle (Russky Kruzhok), and I was elected president. After a meeting in Philosophy Hall lounge, this cute guy was standing outside smiling: –"Hi, my name is Gene – would you like to have lunch with me?" We went to the Fairmont down Amsterdam Avenue. I persuaded Gene to apply to Middlebury Russian Summer School that summer of ’48 – a great place for courtship and MA ‘48, and another MA, CU. ‘49 (we joked I was a MAMA before I was a MRS ). We married June, 1950 and were both chosen as members of the joint Columbia Harvard team for the Harvard Russian Interview Project. On September 9 we were aboard the QEI to Europe spending the academic year in Munich, (a real honeymoon). My book Red Letter Year describes our enchantment with Europe, first visit to Paris, insights about Russian DPs, their lives, and interest in the remnants of Jewish life in postwar Germany, ten miles from Dachau. Coming home in 1951, we had our first child, Donald, and two years later, Deborah -- I taught Russian in high schools and Hunter College. We both continued our concern for the Russian emigres in various American Jewish organizations. We lectured at the Russian (now Harriman) Institute across the street where we met 67 years ago.

Gene:

September 1947. A graduate of Columbia College, '41, I returned from serving in WWII as a Naval Intelligence officer specializing in Japanese. I enrolled in the Russian Institute, and the Department of Slavic Languages, working toward an MA in Russian language and literature along with an Institute Certificate in Soviet studies. A course on Dostoevsky was held in Philosophy Hall, where the Russkii kruzhok met. I was attracted to a pretty brunette in my Dostoevsky class, and president of the club. We started going steady and our love affair led to marriage in June 1950. We were hired to join a team of Harvard and Columbia graduate students fluent in Russian to spend the academic year 1950-51 in Munich, Germany. We interviewed Soviet Displaced Persons who chose freedom rather than repatriation to their homeland under Stalin. What we learned about Soviet reality proved valuable to the U.S. in the Cold War. Our language skills opened led to careers in the Russian field. I was an executive for several decades at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the American shortwave network. I directed broadcasts by Soviet emigres who advocated democracy for their fellow countrymen in the USSR. My book, "Sparks of Liberty," is dedicated to Gloria with a quote from love verses by Russia's famous poet, Alexander Pushkin.

We worked together as board members of American Jewish organizations, helping Soviet Jews resettle in the U .S. We often lecture and teach even via Skype. Our happiest collaboration in sixty-three years of marriage has been as parents of a son and daughter. Donald earned his M.A. music, Columbia, a well-known composer and pianist for silent films, his wife Joanna ; Deborah, MSW, Smith, is a psychotherapist, and published writer. We are also blessed with two grandchildren.”

“My name is Daijun Z. (SEAS' 11). It has been 4 years since I met my current girl, Fan Z. (GSAS' 11) in 2010 in a class called Computation Methods in Quant Finance offered by SEAS. Currently we work at different cities and industries (e.g. 12 hour time difference) and hope that in the near future (1 - 2 yrs) we find a common city to get married and live happy together. We'd like to take this time to wish our Alma Mater a great start of the Year of Horse (guess in the form of blizzard :-))” 

“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the start of fall semester and the early afternoon was warm with sun-filled classrooms and the lingering of summer’s warm, breezy breath. I walked into Mathematics unknowingly, without thinking, in that familiar muscle-memory way that we tend to do. Class started and went on; students scribbled and daydreamed, I listened and half-listened and maybe didn’t, and then 11:50 marked the shuffle of migrating from one classroom to the next. I stood up and walked through the aged wooden door, already leaving Stat 1211 far behind me. I walked past the lower level vending machines and up the marble creaked staircase, and finally out into the lush, grassy lawn. I was wearing my pink knitted leg warmers that day with a jean-cut off mini skirt. On top, I improvised a Columbia T-shirt lazily (but purposefully) slouched off of my right shoulder and folded asymmetrically to the side. He would later tell me that the quirkiness (if not decadence) of my leg warmers caught his eye as I walked outside of those doors and into the sunlight. He watched me walk along the pavement and down the campus steps, and then blend into the morass of high-tide college lunch. He still tells me that same story 8 years later, leaning in over the candlelight of our dinner table, in our shared apartment a bit further downtown.

We became friends after that sunny day in early October. We both lived in Broadway and shared a Statistics lab on the lower floors. We scheduled plans to do problem sets together, and made a valiant effort to carry them through. But instead we giggled away the hours and took Facebook pictures while fiddling with our TI-83s gratuitously. We laughed together and talked so much. About everything; about life in the way that you do when you’re barely 21, about romance, reeling heartache, and sometimes Kant or Kierkegaard strangely made their way in there too. We signed up for core curriculum classes together. Learned about Gregorian chants, the idiosyncrasies of atonality and Stevie Wonder all while the seasons shifted outside our windows. We went to bars and dressed up for college-themed parties. Then one day, a year or so later and nearing senior finals, he kissed me in the cold winter air on the corner barely outside of 114th.

We’re both now on the cusp of 30. He proposed just before Valentine’s Day of 2011 on the Mathematics lawn, and we got married two years ago with all of our closest college friends standing right there beside us. He’s my best friend in the world and truly my “person” in the way that you hope you can find one. We don’t have any tests to take or papers to write anymore, but we’re still a version of those silly, curious kids who met in a calc-based statistics class way back during junior year. We visit West Village bookstores and read in our favorite coffee shop on the weekends; we hear New Yorker Fest lectures and stroll through this city’s incredible art world whenever we get the chance. We love learning together and apart, and perfecting that knowledge-infused and exciting dialectic. Our undergrad lives are the glue that sticks us together, and I can’t imagine my world, or our world together, without that stitch of glue stick in our post-adolescent lives.”

“Long-Term Relationship Rule # 1: Someone who keeps you from being trampled under police horse hoofs during the 1968 police raid on the Columbia buildings being occupied by student strikers will likely be a great life partner. Early in our relationship, my husband of 42 years, Ted Diesenhaus, B.S. Eng. '66, M.S. Eng. 68, proved this when we stood together outside Schermerhorn supporting the strikers as the police advanced to remove them. When the situation escalated, with police clubs swinging and police horses charging, we began to run, but I tripped and fell. Ted scooped me up and got both of us to safety, a significant event in itself, and perhaps even more significantly - independent and stubborn woman that I was then and still am - I didn't resist his protecting me. Even though we had only been together for a few months, I immediately trusted that he could and would keep me safe.

We had met several years before when he was in his third year at Columbia Engineering and I was in my second year at Barnard. I was casually dating his roommate who came by to see me at the Fairholm residence on West 121st Street with Ted in tow. I was immediately drawn to Ted but the feelings were not reciprocated, so I set him up with a Barnard classmate and we double-dated, with me watching his every move all night, wishing I was with him. Thus began a wonderful friendship for the next few years, during which time we become each other's confidantes - but still no romantic sparks from him. Apparently, I was not nearly as cool - in fact, upon seeing me with Ted, one of the students in the Double Discovery Program where I worked during the summers immediately announced that he was the man I should and would marry.

Things didn't change until Fall 67 when I was a graduate student in the Department of Religion and Ted was completing his M.S. at the Engineering School, after we bumped into each other on Broadway as I turned the corner from 115th Street. My father, ever a wise man, had suggested to me when I was bemoaning my single state and the dearth of romantic prospects at Columbia that one day I would turn a corner and bump into my future husband - little did I know that it would be someone I already knew! This time, the stars were aligned and the chemistry was right - several days later, we went out to dinner, and we've been together ever since. Two grown sons (Douglas and Elliott), two careers (technology consultant-Ted; management consultant-me) later, along with all the adventures and challenges that life brings and as we begin to think about our post-65 life together, we still love each other dearly and are forever grateful both for our Columbia educations and for the opportunity Columbia gave us to find each other.” 

“The story begins in room 802, The Frank Tannenbaum reading room, at Columbia’s International Affairs Building. It was a Wednesday evening in early September 2012 and Mario was waiting for the first seminar of the semester to begin. Karina, looking as beautiful as a woman could, walked in to room 802 wearing a peach colored summer dress. Automatically, Karina grabbed Mario’s interest, throughout the year his heart, and to this day, she is still in firm possession of both.

After class, the seminar group would meet for drinks at The Amsterdam pub on 120th. For the first two weeks, Mario hoped that Karina would come join the group. She did not, so he strategically gave her his phone number via email so that she could text him if she was coming. The following week, this strategic move worked and Karina not only texted Mario, but attended the happy hour. While at the pub, the two of them talked to mainly to each other, forgetting the rest of the group. Mario knew he had to see Karina again soon. Karina had mentioned her knowledge of a good BBQ place (Dinosaur) near Columbia, and Mario being new to NYC, a food lover, and intrigued by Karina turned her suggestion into an opportunity. They went on their “first date” at Dinosaur BBQ that Saturday. Although it must be said that Karina invited him for coffee during the week at the coffee shop in the J-school.

Karina worked on the weekends on 98th and Amsterdam and Mario lived on 100th and Broadway, facilitating a series of casual dates. These casual dates took place in the lovely fall evenings on the UWS in the form of walks and late-night snacks along Broadway. Soon after, the dates became more frequent, and Mario’s knowledge that he was falling for Karina became more apparent.

The couple did not deem their relationship appropriate for public knowledge, and kept it from the rest of the group. The first few months of the relationship had a stealthy, and fun, element to it. The stealth and fun was soon replaced with overt love, as the couple no longer cared who knew about their relationship. During the remainder of the school year Mario and Karina became inseparable. Mario knew Karina was as equally in love when she came to watch him play outdoor hockey twice (hockey is of no interest to her) at Central Park in the freezing cold (she hates the cold). Karina felt the same when Mario walk with her aimlessly (he did not understand the point of walking without direction) and they would run through Central Park (Mario does not like running).

Mario and Karina met on an early September evening in IAB 802. Their love was born at Columbia University, grew on the UWS, and became cemented in NYC as a whole. Their lives are now forever changed by the decision to attend Columbia, and, while there, to follow their hearts.”

“We met while we were attending the School of General Studies; and, we graduated on Valentine's Day. Columbia has given Us the foundation of knowledge and confidence to continue through decades of work, life experiences and contributions both in New York City and Washington, DC also with world-wide travel, learning and teaching experiences. While William enjoys his work at Georgetown University, he creates wonderful artworks; and, he is also an art and book collector. We also work with local and international community projects.”

Her Story

Lillian A. (MIA 2002), from Puebla, Mexico, originally arrived in NYC in 2000 to pursue a career at the United Nations by studying International Affairs at SIPA…but before even setting step inside the UN, she met Ricardo at Columbia's Housing Office. She was focused on meeting people from abroad, to broaden her horizons. However, the universe brought Ricardo, from Sonora, Mexico, to her side on the very first day of grad school.

His Story

Ricardo A. (MPA 2002) originally arrived to SIPA at Columbia in 2000 to pursue his Masters in Public Policy. He knew this would be an important step to move his career forward in Mexico. Ricardo says that when he saw Lillian for the first time at the university Housing Office, she looked shy and scared (no way Lillian swears!). He struck a conversation with her attracted by her Mexican beauty (ok Lillian added this part) and impressed at her intelligence for getting a scholarship to attend SIPA. After this he could not stay away from her.

They saw each other for the second time at a September 15thMexican independence day party at International House, and the rest was history, bumping into each other at every SIPA gathering, and both joining the SIPA Latin American Student Association (LASA). They dated for the two full years of grad school and parted ways when Ricardo chose to pursue his career in Mexico and Lillian in New York.

Fast-forward 8 years…

The grad-school couple meets again at a LASA reunion in NYC in the fall of 2010. They have not seen each other or communicated in eight years. They both remain single yet Lillian has a local boyfriend. At the reunion they talk, they see they have many things in common still, and she shares her dream of creating Artistic Dreams International - now a reality. Lillian breaks up with her local boyfriend a few months later. Ricardo joins Lillian in her new venture as an Advisor, yet they don't see each other again until September 2011 when Lillian visits Mexico to look for foundation support for Artistic Dreams.

Ricardo invites Lillian on a date during that trip, after taking time off work from the Association of Mexican Banks and chauffeuring her around Mexico City to her appointments. At a very romantic French Restaurant (which he knows Lillian will love), he mentions that he never forgot her and that that he remembers their relationship at Columbia as the best in his life…that he never found a woman quite like her, that he is ready for something serious, that he thinks they are very compatible in every way and that he thinks they could form a life together….(all this on the first date…!) Lil gasps; and considers this…and mentions that he is welcomed to visit her in New York.

Ricardo begins visiting Lillian in NYC and they get to know each other again. Lillian thinks Ricardo has become an amazing man over the last 8 years and thinks of the image of a wise owl whenever she sees him (though she does not mention this). Eleven months after their first date (the second time around), Ricardo asks Lillian if she would like to meet with a colleague of his giving a talk at Columbia University on July 13, 2012. Lillian agrees to meet his colleague and show him around campus. They are to meet by the Alma-Mater statue at the Columbia steps. On the day of the meeting, instead of the colleague, Lillian finds Ricardo himself by the statue on a surprise visit. Lillian gasps astounded. Ricardo proceeds to propose to her while they both sit at the foot of Alma-Mater, at the school where they first met (the first time around). Needless to say, Lillian says yes, with a nervous giggle. After a big hug and a photo taken of them by two Columbia undergrads, she discovers that Alma-Mater hides a wise owl under her robes. Ricardo says he knew about that owl since their SIPA days. Their engagement photos are taken all over the Columbia University campus.

Thirteen years after their first glance of each other at the Columbia Housing Office, Lillian and Ricardo tie the knot in Puebla, Mexico on April 12, 2013. They happy couple is living in Sonora Mexico from where Lillian runs Artistic Dreams International in NYC and sells and exhibits her own art work. Ricardo runs the family farm after spending 11 years in the Mexican Federal Government, as government liaison for Mexican bankers, and very involved in the national education sector. They are now planning to together make some SIPA impact in their new home town of Caborca, Sonora; a small city in the middle of the desert and just 2 hours from the US border.”

“2014 is a big year for us. In 2014, Sean V. (CC ’93) and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage. But we will also celebrate, as we always do, October 28, 1989. 25 years of dating. How many people go off to Columbia and wind up meeting “the one” at a frat party? We want to acknowledge the festivity makers of Beta House circa 1989 for an amazing Halloween party. Like so many tales of romance, the story is sappy, clichéd, and perfect to us/cheesy to others. The story has gotten better every time we tell it to one of our four children. We saw each other from across a room that was filled with distractingly clever and inappropriate costumes. We left to stand in the cold on the corner of 113th and Broadway, in front of the old Chemical Bank. We met for breakfast the next day in the dining hall. He switched majors, she brought him home to Long Island, they picked housing lottery numbers together every year after. So followed falling in love with a campus and with a city even more so because we were in love. What better way to experience the most engaging university and the most energetic city? There were many meals at Café Pertutti, Dynasty, Grandma’s, and Koronet. There were adventures to the Met, the Frick, and buildings such as Chrysler and Woolworth for Art Hum, and then for fun; there was Lincoln Center for Music Hum operas, and then operas because we wanted to. There were splurges at Windows on the World and Tavern On the Green, which we are all the more thankful to have had now they are gone. There was the rule that anything above 84th street, we should walk. We couldn’t wait to get married, but did -- eighteen months after graduation with many Columbia friends eager to celebrate with us. Now our oldest son is a junior and looking at college. We tell him to find his own way, but don’t rule out the place where it all began.” 

“Though we were never enrolled at Columbia at the same time, its name crisscrosses our histories – shared and individual. When Jason started his undergraduate career at Columbia in Fall 2004, he began in earnest; not only was he a bright, engaged student, he was a dedicated athlete as well. From the beginning, Jason was a member of the varsity crew team. Though courted by other schools for his rowing talents, Jason was always certain that the majestic Columbia campus was where he wanted to be. I, on the other hand, took a while to make it inside those picturesque gates to the main quad. After seriously considering Columbia for college, as a Florida native, I eventually decided that it was too far from home. So, I settled for a southern institution, with a banner of a darker blue, which shall go unnamed. After a fantastic four years in North Carolina, I finally committed to moving farther north. And boy was I glad that I did! The city was home to so many interesting, vibrant people from all over the world. It seemed as if there was a new person to meet every day, each with a personal story more intriguing than the last. However, after a year of breathtaking museum visits and scrumptious dining experiences, I realized that I wanted to engage with New York on another level. After some help from my good friend Google, as well as the extremely positive endorsement of friends and colleagues, I decided to apply to the Columbia University School of Continuing Education. Once accepted, I immediately enrolled in a class on Hungarian Literature in the Twentieth Century (what can I say, I’m an unabashed nerd) for the Spring 2010 semester. The class was everything I hoped it would be: an engaging professor; intense academic discussion; and the opportunity to learn more about Hungarian culture from someone who had lived there.

I was beyond grateful for the experience. The class was both enriching and challenging, and it was one of the first things that drew Jason and I together. When we met, we found that we each had wonderful things to say about our time at Columbia, which spoke to a deeper connection. On a fundamental level, we shared a love of learning, a genuine curiosity about the world around us, and a sense of inquiry that always had us asking why things were the way they were. These qualities were all things that Columbia encouraged and cultivated during our time there. It’s why, though Jason and I may not have the same hobbies (I was never the athletic type), we still have similar interests and always respect the other’s opinion – regardless of whether we agree with it. Plus, months after our first date, Jason confessed that when I mentioned taking a Hungarian Literature class at Columbia “for fun”, he decided then and there that he wanted to date me “so hard”. I could not have asked for a better match.”

“My girlfriend and I met at Columbia Medical Center five years ago. We met in Bard hall while I was in medical school and she was in nursing school. For those unacquainted, Bard is a creeky 11 floor dormitory built 80 years ago. The only cooking facilities are on the top floor and that is where we met and became close, arguing over who could make the best sandwich. Now five years later, she is a nurse practitioner and I am in residency. We have grow up and together and love each other with reckless abandon. So thank you Columbia for providing the setting to meet Ashley S., my love.” 

“Michael W., SEAS 2011 and I (Alison H., CC 2012) met during my sophomore year at Columbia when I was the RA on his floor in Wien Hall. Mike asked me out several times that year, but as a nervous first year RA, I kept him at bay. The next year I travelled abroad to France in the fall. We kept in touch, and when I returned that spring we started spending more time together, meeting for tea at Joe's every week, without fail. I accompanied Mike to his senior ball at the end of the year, and then he left to start work in Boston. We always kept in touch, and in the fall of my senior year started dating seriously, visiting each other in Boston and New York every other weekend. Shortly before my graduation in spring 2012, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which we soon after learned was a particularly rare and aggressive form, and was metastatic. We left to meet with my surgeon at Mass General Hospital the day after my graduation, and during my surgery shortly after, Mike spent the day playing scrabble with my parents in the hospital waiting room. Mike held my hand through my continued treatment and radiation, and in December 2012, we got the good news that my treatments were successful. In late January 2013, Mike asked me to marry him at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire while on a ski trip. We are planning our wedding for the 4th of July on the Connecticut shore, near where we both grew up.” 

“He had never fallen in love before. I was going through a divorce. Our classmate, Angel Lozada, was publishing his first novel and we were invited to his book launching party. I recognized him. He was the guy who I had seen hanging out at the SIPA lounge talking to others for hours.

That night, as I walked into the crowded UWS party, I promised myself that I would not start a conversation with a man that could lead into dating. I was done. No more heartbreak pain for me. But, he had a sweet smile and a charming, irresistible Spanish accent. I started our conversation about photography--a legitimate, intellectual topic I thought, lying to myself. By the end of the night, we had talked about our mutual Sephardic heritage, the civil war in my home country, and how we had attended rival high-schools in Maryland.

Two days later, when his email arrived in my in-box asking to meet for coffee, he had started the slow process of breaking his own promise of avoiding to fall in love.

A couple of months later, he moved across town to live with me and my two cats, Seymour and Mona. That summer, we moved temporarily to Cartagena, Colombia, for a consultancy. For months, our discussions centered around where to live; could we live in NYC, Madrid, or Jerusalem?

He moved to Washington, D.C. for a consultancy with an NGO that worked on the repatriation of Saharawis, and traveled to the refugee camps in Algeria. Before his trip, he had given me a copy of The Little Prince with a dedication that started “Reinita” or little queen—the Queen of Spain and I share the same name and his SIPA classmates had crowned me with the moniker. He took the book to the Sahara desert, the place where the Little Prince landed and Saint-Exupery lost his life. On the last page of the book, he wrote another dedication “life has taken us to this point; from here we will take the next step.”

After Algeria, he said that his only other work possibilities were in Afghanistan and South Sudan, to which I patiently answered “stop being so dramatic, you are not going to South Sudan.” Then, the European Union gave him a job in Bogota, Colombia. I stayed in NYC. Did he ever ask me to move with him? Or, was it that I did not want to go—one civil war was enough for me.

On September 11, he wrote asking whether I was alright. I had left NYC by then. Years later, I received an email announcing an economic conference in Sudan where one of the speakers was an official from the European Commission in Khartoum. He had managed to make his way to Sudan after all. Breaking yet another promise, I impulsively sent him an email. He answered that his life had not been the same without me.

He traveled from Khartoum to Washington, D.C. to visit me. Since then, he has been transferred to Addis Ababa and then to Jerusalem, the city where I had wanted us to live.

We can blame that EU for pulling us apart as we stopped being a couple 14 years ago. Life has taken us to many points, and our next step has always been to love.”

“It’s been nearly 15 years since our love story began on an impossibly romantic train ride back to Morningside heights from the city of love, Trenton NJ. It was December of 1999, and I believed that the coming turn of the millennium would be the defining moment of my life. On my way back to Wallach Hall after my last exam, I bumped into Miranda C. (CC ‘01) near the entrance to campus on 116th and Broadway. Hey what’s up? Not much. Our mutual friend and my roommate Jason (CC ‘00) was heading home to New Jersey that night to screen his short film. I was planning to attend: would Miranda like to go too? The conversation on the train ride back from Trenton was very exciting. New Jersey jokes, Seinfeld quotes, the 60s, philosophical implications of The Matrix, Fight Club and Being John Malkovich; and, seeing as I was one year ahead, course recommendations: Tolstoy and Dostoyoevsky with Prof. Belknap; anything she could get with Philip Kitcher or Martin Meisel.

The next few months (after the millennial anti-climax) were a dream: eggs, yellow rice and black beans at La Rosita on 103rd St. (often together with Jason and Gavin Williams, CC ‘00), meeting family at our older sisters’ respective weddings, arriving back to Miranda after backpacking in Malaysia, gas food and

lodging on the road to California together…

Her train was goin’ south of east, my train was going west

And like it is with all these things, we’ve got no idea which way’s the best. --from a love song by me, 2002

We were in our early 20s and things were about to get complicated. I started grad. school at Berkeley that fall, but Miranda still had another year at Columbia. After graduation, she headed to the Edinburgh Fringe to perform in “Love and Happiness” by Kate (CC ‘02). I joined her for a fairytale week exploring castles in Scotland, but our time together was short: she was heading directly to Madrid. The next year would prove more trying for our relationship than anything we had experienced before. Terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center and America went to war.

Suffice it to say that after much convincing (including Kate’s advice to make San Francisco her next Madrid) Miranda finally joined me in California. We spent 3 years together in Hayes Valley in San Francisco, 2 years on Brick Lane in London, and most recently 5 years in Kensington Market in Toronto.

Miranda got a Masters in theatre at LISPA and is now an actor and film-maker. I teach at the University of Toronto and we’re planning a sabbatical in Los Angeles. We look at our lives together as an adventure.

We met at Columbia and we’ve tried to keep learning over the years. Our love story is almost another core curriculum: it teaches us to be critical and independent; its narrative represents our values and ideals of conduct; in a world of suffering, it reveals beauty.” 

“My (Jan S., CC '03) first day at Columbia in September of 1999, I was anxious about making friends because I knew, as a commuting student, I would be part of a smaller cohort that was less involved in the residential life. After orientation, I walked down the steps in front of Alma Mater with two other freshmen I met in the elevator, and said, "How will I ever meet other commuters?!" Just then, Marco P. (SEAS '03, ‘04) was walking by with headphones on, but thankfully not listening to music. Hearing my question, he stopped and said, "I'm a commuter." What luck! I was so excited, I replied, "really? I'm from Brooklyn." He was also from Brooklyn, and I literally couldn't help myself, and jumped into his arms and gave him a big hug (apparently a bold move on my part, but thankfully, Marco was willing to see how this all panned out.) We exchanged numbers, agreed to meet at the 59th Street station the next morning where our two subway lines met, and continued the commute in together. We began dating within the month, and were inseparable (except, of course, by our very different majors and course loads) the next four years. As commuters, we didn't have dorms to hang out in while we waited, sometimes hours, between classes- so we spent a lot of downtime together around campus. One of our favorite activities was doing crosswords together over pancakes at Tom's Dinner. Also, as commuters, we had lockers, and I still have many of the love notes Marco left for me in my locker. So many moments of our love story were spent at Columbia: our first kiss in front of Uris, lounging on the lawn while we waited for class, dates at Nacho Mama's, less romantic lunches at the Pizza Hut at Wien, snowboarding class in Senior Year. We graduated together in 2003, and got engaged in April of 2005. We knew right away that we wanted to get married at Columbia University- if it had not been for Columbia- and more specifically, commuting to Columbia, we would never have met. On July 8, 2006, we were married at St. Paul's Chapel, and celebrated our reception with family and friends at Casa Italiana. We return to campus every year on our anniversary, and now, with our four year old daughter Bella, and 2 year old daughter, Sofia, for a family picture in front of Alma Mater, where our story began almost 15 years ago. I've attached a photo from our wedding day of us, and our wedding party, outside of St. Paul's Chapel.”

“It was September 1999, Lerner Hall, the second of three nights of auditions for the Columbia University Clefhangers, of which I was a member. Jon, a newly minted freshman, was the 19th auditionee of the night. I was a junior and single, yet had sworn off freshmen now that I was a lady so advanced in my college career. Then Jon showed up. He still had a bowl cut of the kind that was very popular on high schoolers in the 90s. Not only could he sing, but he brought two additional highly-sought skills to the a cappella table - arranging and beat-boxing. But instead of writing down his skills or how I found the tone of his voice (lovely, of course), I wrote down a single word: "Yum." Later, as the group mulled over who we'd like to call back for a final audition, I knew I couldn't chime in on his audition without being hopelessly, utterly biased. I just kept my fingers crossed as the discussion unrolled, and silently cheered as it went in his favor. At the callbacks, he sported a new, college look - shorter hair and a goatee. Even yummier. The semester's rehearsals unfolded in dorm lounges with late night chats over mozzarella sticks in JJ's place. One weekend in November, the Clefhangers spent every evening together - first, a party of one of our members' suites in Hartley (although, as you know, there are no parties in the dorms). Then, the following night, we sang a birthday gig at the Bukhara Grill on East 49th Street, and I invited Jon to walk back to campus with me. I fell in love on that walk, an excursion that took us through the towers of midtown on a frosty night, past the sunken pit of Mars 2112 (we may be the only people with romantic feelings about that restaurant), through Lincoln Center and up Broadway all the way to campus. Two years later we would recreate that walk under very different circumstances when Jon came down from campus to meet me walking back from my second day of work at Penguin on Hudson Street. It was September 11th. We had promised to meet on Broadway, and as I passed through midtown, I paused at Mars 2112 knowing that he hadn't passed me yet because he would have stopped here too. We have now been together more than 14 years. We live in San Francisco, the town Jon grew up in, and have two young sons, Henry, who is 3, and Tommy, who is nearly 1.”

“Sam and I graduated from Columbia in 2004, but didn't meet until three years later in Washington, DC--and there, we actually met twice. Though Sam remembers well our first encounter at a mutual friend’s party, I have no recollection of it whatsoever. But I apparently have only a few good stories to whip out at cocktail parties, because when we next met at a second party, I retold Sam the exact same stories I told him the first time. He was undeterred and claimed this only helped him polish his banter.

We went on a first date later that week, which was--in my humble opinion--the best first date of all time. I came home and told my mother that it was such a good date that if I had to choose between never seeing Sam again and agreeing, right then and there, to bind our lives together forever in holy matrimony, I would chose marriage without any hesitation. She dismissed this as sleep-deprived delirium but my confidence was well-founded--Sam turned out to be more thoughtful, funny, and all-around awesome than I could ever have imagined. After our second date, we basically moved into together, a fact I tried to obscure from friends and family until a more respectable amount of time had passed and this development seemed less insane. Eventually enough time passed and we got married. Sam continues to be awesome.

Years after we got together, we came across the cover photo of a Publisher’s Weekly issue dedicated to graduation season. As a stock image of a classic cap-and-gown ceremony, they used a picture of the Columbia College ’04 graduation--and, lo and behold, there we both were, with Sam sitting three rows in front of me, each of us blissfully unaware of our future spouse’s tantalizing proximity.”

This is the love story of my parents:

“As a boy, Wen C. used to walk thru fields of overgrown high sugar cane and on miles of pathways that would get flooded, just to get to high school in Taiwan. No running water or sewer existed in his family’s extremely poor farm village, where he and his brothers maneuvered water buffaloes thru rice paddies – his farming mom’s workplace.

In 1963, Wen C. and Po-Ying C. – both fresh immigrants from Taiwan – married in NYC and lived behind Butler Library (now “frat row”) in low affordable housing. He pursued his civil engineering doctoral studies at Columbia, and I was born in 1966 at St. Luke’s Hospital – behind Columbia on Amsterdam Ave. – as a result of my parents’ love story. Back then, times were tumultuous…The civil rights protests were prevalent. My Dad had limited income as a teaching assistant, yet he still sent money home to his parents… In 1968, Wen C. earned his PhD at Columbia. Twenty years later, I earned my Columbia civil engineering bachelor’s degree when female engineering students were exceptionally rare, and Columbia College had just turned co-ed.

My architect Mom died after my Columbia freshman year, but her enduring love and support for my Dad helped him become the pioneering engineer, land surveyor, general contractor, entrepreneur and real estate developer who has designed drainage, roads as well as water and sewer lines – amenities he never grew up with – for numerous subdivisions, office buildings and shopping centers throughout Sarasota County, Florida and even built numerous houses and condominiums for retirees. I am grateful for their love story at Columbia, their Columbia pride and their love for buildings, which have resulted in my being an active Columbia alumna for 25+ years and becoming a construction consulting engineer with a heart…”

"Way back in October 1957 as a recent PH nursing graduate working on the 16th floor OB and living in Harkness Hall, I went to a bridal shower for a fellow recent grad. At that shower,the future bride took her engagement ring and all the ribbon from the packages was wrapped around the ring. Then the ring was passed gradually around while unwrapping the ribbon. The story was that whoever got the ring minus any ribbon dropped in their hand would be the next one to get married. Well who got the ring but me and it worked. The very next week, I was coming off night duty, when another RN on the elevator, a Chinese gal named Doris, saw me and asked me if I would like a blind date for a dance the coming Friday night at Harkness for RN's. I said sue,why not. She said this guy worked with a friend of hers at the Bayonne, NJ Naval Supply Depot. Well that date work out and he asked me out for the next night as well. Two weeks later we became engaged to be engaged and I got my ring on Valentines Day,1958. My ring was a diamond surrounded by 2 small diamonds from his grandmother's ring (that was vintage 1880). We were married June 14, 1958 and our marriage lasted until December 23, 2012 when Brad passed away from complications from Parkinson's. Whenever asked how we met, I always said on a blind date arranged by a Chinese girl on an elevator at 7 am in the morning in New York City."

“On October 17, 1981, I went on a blind date and took her to the Columbia-Yale football game at Baker’s field. I decided to make a picnic lunch. While lunching on BBQ on a blanket, Roaree the Lion came by and struck up a conversation with us. We told him that we had just met that morning and he boldly pronounced that we were great for each other and should get married. Later we went to the game and watched the Lions lose to the Yale Bulldogs in the final minutes. Bummer. Two years later, we got married. We have two kids and last year we celebrated our 30th anniversary. Thanks Roaree!”

“Freshman year at Columbia in my first class of my first year—LitHum. As a legacy I had grown up hearing about the Core and the power of a classical education. I was early to class so I nervously sat down and pulled out my notebook. Mere moments before the professor began his lecture a tall guy shuffled in and sat behind me. When I say tall, I mean skyscraper tall. He towered over our professor and every other student in the class. Even if he hadn’t been late to class everyone noticed him. By the time I got home later that night I had a friend request from Brian G., the skyscraper basketball player. How did he even know my name to find me so fast?

During the next 3 years we maintained a passing acquaintance never becoming close friends. We bumped into each other at least once a semester (it’s hard to miss someone that tall) and we would catch-up. It wasn’t until the summer before my senior year in 2010 that we finally had more than a passing conversation. By then I no longer had a boyfriend.

As I walked up the hill on Amsterdam towards the 116 Street gates I saw Brian walking with crutches. He had recently had knee surgery. I sympathized and shared about my new job and plans to apply to Law School. Finally, as we were about to go our own way he said, “We should catch up for real sometime and hang out.” For some reason I got nervous and excited all at once but managed just to nod my head and said, “Yeah, of course. Sounds good.” In the past we always said this after our little catch up sessions, but this time it was different. When I got home we chatted on Facebook, continuing the conversation we had started on the street.. Facebook chats, turned into G-chats, which turned into texts all day.

I couldn’t wait to get a text form him. I checked my phone a million times a day. He was interesting, self effacing, and so CUTE! While it might have been obvious to anyone but me, we were starting to really fall for each other. I soon realized this was something more than a friendship or a flirtation. We began to date. It was an amazing, delightful, and surprising turn to my senior year of college. After graduation Brian returned to Philadelphia, his hometown and I stayed in New York but we continued dating long-distance.

Don’t let anyone fool you, long distance are hard. But we couldn’t imagine not being together, so we persevered. In the Fall of 2012, I returned to Columbia campus and began Law School. It was so difficult to be on campus without Brian. I would walk past the gates and think of him, Enter Lerner and remember our long talks, see couples holding hands on college walk and long for him to be with me. But I had to subsist on g-chats and weekend visits until finally this past December 2013 Brian got a job in New York. He was moving back! I think I floated to class that day.

Right after he moved back into the city we were walking through college walk when he stopped me right in front of Alma Mater, dropped down on one knee, and uttered the fateful words, “Will you marry me?” My heart did a double take, my eyes watered and I said, “YES!” I actually think I said yes before he even asked I just remember him smiling and putting the ring on my finger. As fate would have it a Columbia track athlete was walking by, saw what was happening, and took a photo for us!

A true Columbia love story. This December we will be married at St. Paul’s Chapel. Another new beginning where it all started at Columbia."

“I met my husband at a History Department reception for incoming graduate students early in the Fall 1976 semester. I had graduated from Muhlenberg College in May in art history and was enrolled in the Art History program. Jeff, a fellow Muhlenberg alum, was in the History program. He invited me to accompany him to the reception because he did not want to go alone. Soon after arriving, Jeff and I were separated and I ended up being pigeon-holed by Frank, who kept talking about gun displacements and technical dimensions. We were joined at some point by a very attractive guy, named Mike.

He keeps telling me that he wanted to talk to the prettiest girl at the reception and so joined the conversation. The three of us continued talking, even to the point of closing down the reception and continuing on at the Brass Rail (until it closed). At that point, the 3 of us left together. Frank lived to the south and Mike and I to the north, so Mike ended up walking me home.

Thirty-eight years later we have been married for 36 years and have three children ages 31, 26 and 23. I work as an executive with a DC-based non-profit and my husband is a Supervisory Economist with the Department of Commerce. In five years, we will retire to Kauai. All of this is because of that History Department reception.”

In the mid 1970’s - I met Tom at a party in Plimpton Hall where I was living. I was a junior at Barnard. He was really tall, young looking with floppy hair, a perpetual smile, and a cigarette hanging from his long fingers. It was cool back then. No one seemed to notice our burning eyes and sore throats from those smoke filled parties. Tom was a year behind me, majoring in psychology, and I was in anthropology. I was mesmerized by Marx and had big dreams of egalitarianism. Tom was taken with my dreams, since his intellectual trajectory was based on family memories from Estonia, which were filled with painful rejection of all that was Soviet and totalitarian. Tom's family had endured the wrath of that Soviet totalitarianism. I on the other hand, was blindly approaching Marx's utopian projections. We took these debates to smoke filled clubs in Soho, to our regularly frequented restaurant on Broadway and 109th, where he used to love oysters, beer, and burgers. I loved none of it, but enjoyed his gusto. We were simply friends through this, ignoring the electricity between us, sharing the stories of our young lives.

We both needed a place to live, and began searching for an apartment together. Just as roommates. We found a great place, Columbia owned, on Riverside Drive. It was huge. We invited Tom's friend to join us, and my brother, a student at the School of International Affairs. Tom loved music, and filled the apartment with new sounds he was always digging up. He introduced us to Bruce, to Fleetwood Mac, and we had huge dance parties at that apartment. After these parties Tom would make scrambled eggs for all of us, for whomever had slept over. WIth grapefruit juice, his favorite. I would go jogging and he would swim. Somewhere along the way Tom and I fell into love with each other. We kept it a secret from our roommates for a while, and then we took over the "big" room as ours. We were happy together in the moment, with no real thoughts about the future. I graduated first, unsure about my next step, and landed a job working at the Columbia Neurological Institute as an EKG technician under the direction of Dr. Lovelace (I couldn't make up that name). I gave electric shocks all day to willing patients, to measure the electric impulses of their nerves. It was my first real job, and Tom accompanied me to all the doctor's parties. Tom finally graduated, and was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania psychology program. I chose to follow him, and we moved to Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia. I found a job there working as a researcher in a school located in the the slums of Philly. Getting to work every morning meant I'd have to walk across block after block of abandoned buildings, streets that looked as if they'd been strafe bombed. The brilliant sun on those winter mornings could not mask the devastation, the children without winter coats. I wasn't mentally prepared for this. Tom was so kind, so sweet. He worked so hard as a first year student in graduate school, and tried to include me in his new life, but I was sinking into depression, feeling lost and dark. I left Tom and went back to New York, having been accepted into Columbia GSAS in the Anthropology Department where I received my Phd. Tom and I drifted apart. I still have his black and white photos, the self portrait he drew, the love notes. I thought about him off and on through the years, but it wasn't until I saw him on the front page of the New York Times with George W.Bush, and the front cover of the Columbia Alumni magazine, that I learned he now goes by his given Estonian name, Toomas I., and is the President of Estonia.”

“She was a “G”. He was an “H”. She was from Kansas. He was from Texas. They were assigned to next door suites in that awful grey place East Campus. Her suite had a non-working shower. His suite had a working shower. Years later he would often tell the story that they met in the shower. The truth was they met when she was borrowing a shower in his suite. The alphabet being what it is, they shared their first year classes. Products of public schools and public universities, they shared the adjustment to the academic rigor of Columbia Law together. They became friends. They spent hours studying in Butler library. They spent hours talking on the roof of East Campus drinking Rolling Rock Beer. They became something more than friends. They argued the intricacies of the law. They explored the wonders of New York City. They became lovers. They graduated and both took jobs at large law firms in Washington D.C. She focused on Environmental Law. He focused on anything but Environmental Law but somehow gravitated to it anyway. They transitioned from students to adults together. They became soul mates. Three years after law school they married. Shortly thereafter they became parents. They moved to Texas. They built a life together. They shared joys and tragedies together. Their love continued to grow with each passing year. He became nationally recognized in environmental law. She raised three children and then found her own success in environmental law. He went to academia. She went in-house.

Thirty years after their first meeting in they grey halls of East Campus, their passion continues to grow. They share the present, they plan the future, they treasure the past. Most of all they treasure their memories of the place they met, the place they fell in love, the place they still love: Columbia University School of Law.” 

“Our Love Story didn’t begin in the halls of John Jay or in a LitHum classroom. In fact, we didn’t event attend Columbia at the same time. However, our alma mater holds a special place in both of our hearts and, in a way, brought us together.

Ray and Shamafa met through mutual friends, two different friends from different parts of their lives, but all of them had one thing in common: they were all fortunate enough to have attended CU. Ray was SEAS Class of ’98 and Shamafa was SEAS Class of ’05. In 2010, years after both of them had graduated, they met in the great City of New York, shared a similar background, engineering sense of humor, a love of Koronet’s pizza (amongst other things), and reminisced about their years at Columbia during their first date. Dates and dates later, the two realized that they were meant to be together forever. On a crisp autumn's night, during Thanksgiving break when students were on vacation and off campus, Ray proposed to Shamafa. He did it in a way that was meaningful to them both and in a place that would always hold a special place in their hearts. Shamafa said yes, right in the middle of campus, at the sun-dial along college walk. They recently had their first son, who often dons Columbia-blue onesies. Though they were not college sweethearts, they are sweethearts that attended the same college, and it was the Columbia network that helped to bring them together, happily ever-after.”

“My fiance, from Princeton, invited his roommate on Columbia's annual Circle Line Cruise from the Medical campus (known colloquially as the Booze Cruise). Turned out the cruise got cancelled that night, so we went back to Bard Hall for a party and dance. My friend and I lost touch after graduation, but what a surprise to receive my CU Alumni Directory a few years ago, and learn that the couple we introduced are now married. Both of us have been together many decades now, and we look forward to meeting them again one summer when we are back east.” 

“I love Tom. I've loved him through thick and thin for over six years. Tom, who I more

affectionately call Sharkey, is a Teachers College grad of '00. I am a Strategic Communication grad from '10. Our love story started as an unlikely psychic reference. For my birthday in 2007, someone bought me a psychic

reading. The psychics process involved seeing visions and sharing interpretations. There was also another layer of interpretation, my own. There are a few go to conversation topics when talking to a psychic including money, health, and love. In the heart category, the woman giving the reading shared that I would meet someone special while on Columbia's campus and that he would be a teacher. I was instructed to take the vision and go with it. I figured I could make this work. I would keep my eyes open on campus. I would take a second look at my guy professors. Time passed and even though I had my eye out for HIM I did not meet a male professor at school until Sharkey came along.

In January of 2008 I was having dinner with a friend. She brought more friends I didn't know, Sharkey included. Turns out my interpretations from the psychic reading were close but not what I anticipated. I ended up meeting Sharkey that night at a restaurant NEXT to campus. Sharkey wasn't a professor but had been a teacher in Newark. I have no doubt that with or without a psychic we would have met because just a few months after we started dating, I suffered a shocking surprised when I lost my job. A couple of months after that, Sharkey lost his Mom. The Universe decided we each needed someone. Valentines Day was our first date. This time of year we celebrate our Valaversary and are grateful for jobs, Moms, and psychics.”

“In the Fall of 1957, I was a 17 year old sophomore at the College and a percussionist in the marching and concert band. At football games, I began to notice a cute young girl (she was 15 at the time), who I later learned was the younger sister of one of the oboe players. She would show up with her date, typically one of her brother’s friends from the oboe section. During football/marching band season, there was an oversupply of oboe players, and many were converted to bass drum or cymbals; so cute little Suzy B. would sit between her date and me, and we got to know each other—but nothing happened. Her brother, a freshman, not realizing that I was less than two years her senior, thought I was too old for his little sister and did not encourage her. Then, on March 8, 1958, one week after her 16th birthday, Suzy attended a band concert on campus with her family. I was expecting my aunt to attend, and when she did not, I stood alone at intermission until that same cute little girl came over to talk. She came over again after the concert concluded, and I finally had the good sense to ask her out. We took the subway to Greenwich Village to the Limelight café, where I treated her to a cherry smash and called her mother to tell her we would be returning late. We dated for two months and were engaged onMay 8, two weeks before my 18th birthday.

A year later, at the end of my junior year, we decided to elope (with her mother’s blessing), and we married in Columbia, SC on June 16, 1959. We immediately returned to NY; Suzy graduated high school; and we attended her senior prom the following week as a secretly married couple. Our “wedding picture” remains the prom picture with Suzy in her beige formal and me in my midshipman dress whites. Since I was in the Navy ROTC unit, where marriage before graduation was not permitted, we could not tell a soul. We kept our secret through graduation and commissioning, after which we left for Norfolk, VA and my first tour of duty. Our daughter, Debra, was born that September-- Suzy was 18 and I was 20. Sons David and Larry joined us by the time Suzy was 21 and I was 23. Law School followed my 4 1/2 years of sea duty. I took the subway to Washington Square each day, and when I came home, Suzy typed my notes.

We really all grew up together, and thus we have shared most of our important life experiences with our children. Debra ultimately attended Duke and Harvard Law School; David was a rambling wreck at Georgia Tech; and Larry enjoyed the sun and pretty girls at University of Arizona. Each has two children of their own, with three of our grandchildren now in college. We are approaching our 55th wedding anniversary and are still going strong. It all started at a Columbia football game where the cute girl sitting next to me was far more interesting than the players on the field!”

“It was our sophomore year that I met my wife, Joyce H., in the Jewish communal house. In those days, as NYC residents, we were not eligible for campus housing. Our first date was at Tom's Restaurant for breakfast. It was our first of many breakfasts at Tom's. Joyce always ordered the special, and because she was a regular, Joyce was able to substitute a corn muffin instead of toast at no additional cost. That is until the day Joyce complained that the muffin was stale. In a typical "Seinfeld Moment" the waiter tasted the muffin, declared that it was fresh, dumped the plate, brought out a fresh plate with toast, and declared "no more muffins". That is one of the things I still love about Joyce, her willingness to speak her mind.

We got married in 1987. We have three beautiful daughters. A picture of us in 2011 is attached. Our oldest, Jamie graduated Barnard in 2011. All my Love to my wife and partner, Joyce.” 

“When I arrived at SIPA in 1988, EPD was in its beginning stages. In our first meeting we sat in a circle and introduced ourselves. Many had already had interesting and challenging adventures around the world – Africa, Asia, and Latin America – and with a commitment to making the world a better place. Though I had no idea at the time, in that circle sat my future husband (Andrew R.). He says he noticed my smile from across the room; I noticed his playful nature. Later that week, I went to the first SIPA Chorale rehearsal and there he was again. We became tight knit groups, the EPDers and the SIPA Chorale. I was thrilled to have found so many people with similar passions. We discussed world issues, collaborated on projects, sang, drank, dreamt about the future, and enjoyed long massage chains. We were a dynamic, raucous, supportive, “touchy feely” group. Andrew was, during those two years, a very good friend. When I graduated (SIPA 1990), he (SIPA 1989) had already been working with UNDP in El Salvador. He sent a letter to a number of friends, encouraging us to visit him in this war torn country. When I took him up on his offer and went to El Salvador (I was the only friend who did), well……. that’s when our relationship took a different turn. At the time, I thought I was just visiting a friend and seeing how community development can support reconciliation and peace, building on my learnings from SIPA. What I ended up doing was falling in love, trusting my instincts and having confidence that together we could manage our way through any unknown. My Columbia love story is about special bonds and pursuing passions. I love my friends. I love my work. I love meeting others from SIPA as I travel the world. And, most of all, I love my best friend and true love, with whom I embarked on this life long adventure 25 years ago, when we first looked across the room at SIPA.” 

"Rob and I met on Casino Night at Hammerstein Ballroom during Alumni Reunion Weekend 2006. He had just come back to New York after being away for a few years and was meeting up with his former roommate. I was attending with friends I have known since freshman year in John Jay. We were both waiting for the same spot at the blackjack table and, after a short but not unfriendly dispute, ended up playing next to each other. As we played, I looked up at the handsome stranger next to me and something in my heart told me that he was special, and that I had to talk to him. Unfortunately, though we kept a humorous dialogue going, we didn’t really get a chance to connect. Before I knew it, he had left the table, though not before giving me all his chips!

Later that night, I searched for him in vain, and was disheartened that he had gone before I could make my move. The next day, I was still thinking about our missed connection. Normally I would have just let it go, but my heart told me I would regret it. So I decided to look him up in the Columbia alumni directory and try to get in touch. Alas, all I knew was his first name and his class year, and it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, I also remembered his former roommate’s name, which was more unique, and was able to find him in the directory. I contacted him, he connected me to Rob, and the rest, as they say, is history! Rob likes to say that the only time he has ever won at blackjack was on Casino Night 2006!

Rob and I were married in 2010 in St. Paul’s Chapel on Columbia’s campus, on a day that held so much meaning for both of us. We both cherish our Columbia experiences, and the most amazing part of it is that Columbia brought us together. To get married on the campus that played such an important role in our formative years, with our Columbia friends in attendance, was the perfect way to celebrate our union. Last year we welcomed our own little future lion, Lucia, and we hope that in eighteen years, she will fall in love with Columbia just as her parents did." 

“This March we'll have been a couple for 25 years...and still counting. Now we're getting ready for our 25th reunion this May. Here's to the class of '89! Gotta love the 80's hairdo and puffy clothes from the Senior Ball at the Waldorf!”

Dear Columbia:

(From my dad) -- My years at Columbia P&S were some of the best, and certainly most important, of my life. I learned the gentle art of healing, which I still practice today, though in a much more limited way. My aunt and uncle (my love story for you) made it possible for me to attend medical school by taking me in as a "son". I rode the subway from Northern Blvd., Queens, to P&S daily. My son followed my footsteps, graduating 30 years after I did. Thank you, Columbia, for a wonderful life! Best Valentine wishes, Lawrence W., M.D. (P&S) '36

"I met my husband on a blind date at Columbia. I was a student at Barnard, Nathan a student at Columbia Engineering. Nathan went to school with my older brother and thought we would be a good match. Certainly turned out that way. For me it was love at first sight. Nathan was kind and awfully good looking. What more could a blushing Barnard junior ask for?

We got married the year after I graduated from Barnard. We moved to Boston where Nathan got his law degree. When we returned to NY, I enrolled in the Columbia Business School where I got my MBA.

This June, we will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We have 2 great kids - Ben, married and about to become a father, and Isaac, who will graduate from Columbia College this May.

How lucky we are!" 

"Our junior year, Charles and I were introduced one chilly autumn morning after the typical Saturday night fire alarm stirred us out of our cozy rooms in Hartley Hall. But we never ran into each other again until a lucky draw in the housing lottery had us living across the floor in those five-person suites in, what was then, coveted Hogan Hall (I imagine seniors have better housing these days). Coincidentally, we ended up sharing four econ classes our senior year. I was a double major Poli Sci and Econ, biting off more than I could chew, and I ended up skipping more classes than I’d like to admit, borrowing his notes to catch up. Oh his meticulous notes… After many, many years of giving each other grief, the loss of our mothers, seven jobs, three cities, law school and a failed small business venture later, Chaplain Jewelnel Davis married us in 2007 at St Paul’s Chapel -- right back where it all started. Now our life is blessed with a joyful two-year old who loves Play-doh and My Little Pony, reminding us that despite all odds, some things in life seem meant to be."

“I was 27, a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, a veteran and high school English teacher, and she was 23, an English major in the secondary teaching program. Some of us instructors in the program thought that we would give team-teaching a try, and brought our sections together for a joint seminar. She was bright and pretty, and stood out among the class with a lovely sun tan acquired during the spring break. Even though I was not involved in her evaluation, I believed it would be unethical to ask her out, so I bided my time and waited until the semester was over. It turned out that she found me bright and creative and pleased that I asked her to join me at a lecture and go to dinner afterwards. Both New Yorkers, we were engaged in six weeks and married six months from our first date.

Our apartment was on W. 94th Street, and while I completed my degree, she taught junior high school English a few blocks from home. My program was an interfaculty study of communication and media, quite ahead of its time, and New York City was the perfect laboratory. We enjoyed the museums, the films, the theatre, the parks and all the city had to offer. We took the challenge of a temporary university appointment in Canada, and Canadian residence has become permanent—though our absentee voting address remains W. 94th Street.

This November, on Thanksgiving eve, we will celebrate our 54th anniversary. (We married on Thanksgiving eve so that we could have the long weekend for our honeymoon.) We have a son and a daughter and each has a loving spouse and their own son and daughter. Age and its accompanying ills has slowed us down, but we are grateful that we still have each other and that we found each other on Morningside Heights.”

"One bit of advice given to Barnard women in the late 70’s was that if you find a nice straight guy at Columbia, jump on him fast and don’t let go. My wife of nearly 31 years, Sharon , found me on the second day of freshmen orientation in August of 1979 in the John Jay cafeteria. We hung out during freshmen orientation events, saw a movie together, and started regularly eating meals together with a group of friends (at the Hewitt cafeteria at Barnard). Before long, we were a steady item. We were engaged by Junior year, and got married four days after graduation on May 21, 1983. Now, thirty-five-plus years and three kids later (our youngest son, Ross, was recently accepted to the Columbia College class of 2018!!), we’re still together and happier than ever. When the last of the kids leaves the nest this fall, we plan to do some traveling and maybe even consider moving back to New York City. And Sharon is sexier now than she was as 17-year-old Barnard freshman!" 

"We met in September 1965, my senior year, Sy’s first year of graduate school, but that spring, Sy and Teddy had just returned from a trip to the Everglades when Bernie told me, “I just saw Goodman with a bandage on his head.” Always a worrier, I started searching for either of them. I found Sy coming up the stairs as I was going down, and threw my arms around him [basically a total stranger] saying “Thank G-d you’re alright!” I was sure he thought I was crazy, but we got engaged that July and married that December! We have two married sons and three (perfect) grandchildren. We've traveled to all the continents, and lived in 8 cities, now Atlanta. Columbia and Teddy deserve a gigantic public "thank you"!"

“That winter eighteen years ago might be dull and common for others, but it was neither for you and me.

It started normal as I went skiing in Vermont. But for some reason, my legs were so weak that I kept falling on the slopes. It turned out that it was the first time I actually took you skiing with me without knowing it.

When the school nurse told me that I was carrying you, I panicked and cried because I was not ready for a baby while in graduate school. But nine months later, when I first met you at the women's hospital next to the campus, instantly, I felt in love with you, and with your little head, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, and feet. Since I gave you birth, I have split into two parts. The smaller one was you, the bigger one was not me anymore. I would be poor if I lost my fortune. I would be lonely if I lost my companion. But I would not live if I lost you for losing you would be the same as losing myself.

You grew up in the campus. I remember the little boy running up and down the stone stairs next to the Alma Mater. You have been a fast runner since you could run. It still makes me nervous seeing those stone stairs and imaging a little boy running down with laughter. You loved to laugh when you were little. After I spent a whole day doing experiment in the laboratory, letting you running into my arms and kissing your big smiley cheeks on the lawns next to the college walk turned the campus a heaven to me.

You belong to Columbia. It was in your blood. It is home. You went right back to it eighteen years later. Now the Alma Mater around whom you used to spend your toddler years is the one of your own. You are studying in the same classrooms as I used to study. Seeing you walking around the campus side by side to the little running, laughing boy has made me fall in love with you and the school all over again.

Enjoy Columbia and Happy Valentine’s Day!”

"Two years after graduation from Columbia (CC’84), my sister Danielle was at SIPA, my classmate Mark was taking some graduate courses, and I was pounding the pavement, mostly in and around NYC, having just returned from a sales tour around the world, on behalf of our family business, Berklay Cargo. One day, we decided to meet for lunch, and when we got there, Mark suggested we invite his sister Jen, a Barnard grad and Teachers College graduate student working and living at Barnard as a Resident Counselor. (Today, Jen is Barnard’s Dean of Admissions) We dropped by Jen’s suite at Centennial Hall, and I was introduced to her suitemate, Dana. Bowled over by this beautiful blond haired, blue eyed princess, I did what any red blooded salesman would do: I gave her my card! Of course, she never called, but I managed to get her number, and made a date. Even though Dana was called onto emergency duty and could only go as far as Amsterdam, and despite almost cancelling due to a diagnosis that date of walking pneumonia, we were BOTH determined to meet on that cold and rainy night: so we managed to have dessert at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Our next date was literally the evening Columbia’s football team broke the streak ,which I witnessed at Baker Field, and on 116th and Broadway as a great number of students marched around with the goal posts they carried from 215th Street! Columbia was, as we might say in Yiddish, a Mazel-dike connection….so 2 years later, I took Dana to Low Library steps where, in front of Alma Mater, I proposed on one knee… and coincidentally, College Dean Jack Greenberg (whom I had met two times off campus, only a few weeks before!) was just passing by, making him the first to congratulate us. However, unbeknownst to my betrothed, standing single file behind one of the columns at the Delacorte gates on College Walk leading onto Amsterdam, were 30 members of the Columbia U. Marching Band! As a former Head Manager of Cleverest Band in the World, I wrote the words of a special song for the the occasion, which the band graciously performed: “Roar, Dana , Roar”. With the police beckoning us to get out of the street as a little traffic jam developed,the band “ran away” as is their wont, and we walked briskly to make our 6:30 dinner reservation at Columbia’s Butler Terrace. Blessed with loving parents and siblings, our four children, a dog, and a wonderful home in Manhasset, Long Island, we are eternally grateful, and faithful, to Columbia."

"Dan and I met through a mutual friend in December of our senior year, and although we came from different backgrounds and had different academic interests and career goals, we found so many similarities in our personalities and world views that we quickly became inseparable. When we started dating, I had just finished applying to ten grad schools all over the country, and Dan had secured a job in California that would start in July, so we thought that our relationship would most likely be a semester-long fling that would end at graduation. When March finally came, I was accepted to the PhD program at UC Berkeley, the only school I'd applied to that was in driving distance of where Dan would be working. By a stroke of luck, a professor at Berkeley who is very prestigious in the field of atmospheric numerical modeling liked my application and recruited me personally to be her PhD student, so it was an easy choice for me to go to Berkeley, and being able to live near Dan was the icing on the cake. Dan and I both moved out to the Bay Area to begin new chapters of our lives, continuing our relationship but living in separate cities for the first year we were out here. Now we have recently celebrated our three year anniversary, and we have been living together in beautiful San Francisco for over a year and a half. We plan to stay in the Bay Area long term, but we will always make sure to visit New York and Columbia once a year and revisit all the places that hold fond memories for us."

"On April 11, 1969, Michael (‘70CC) and Nancy (‘72Eng.) met in first semester Physics class. Mike asked Nancy why she was carrying a slide rule (remember those?) and was there a surprise physics quiz that day. Nancy explained no, there was no physics quiz, but she had a chemistry exam later that morning. It wasn’t until long after they were engaged, that Nancy realized that was a clever opening line.

It took a few more classes before Nancy started sitting next to Mike in class. First “sort of date” was studying together for the physics final. First real date was going to see the “Monterey Pop Festival” film (followed by sharing the first kiss, by the fountains in front of the Business School). We dated all that summer, which included attending at least one Mets game, watching the moon landing, and watching (on TV) the Mets win the World Series. Near the end of August, just before Mike left to drive to Miami Beach to visit his grandparents, we became engaged. When Mike got back, we went to the diamond district in NYC to buy the engagement ring. First person it was shown to was Mike’s mineralogy professor (Mike was a geology major) for approval. We got married on June 7, 1970, a week after Mike graduated from Columbia College. After graduation, Mike entered Teachers’ College and we lived in a TC building for married grad students on W. 122nd St. Nancy graduated from Columbia’s Engineering School (BS in Chemical Engineering) in June, 1972, and went to grad school at Manhattan College. Part way through, we moved from NYC to an apartment in NJ, eventually buying a house in Englewood, NJ. Although neither of our children went to Columbia, they both visited campus many times and had the various “important” spots pointed out – Pupin (the physics building), the now filled-in fountains in front of the Business School, SW Mudd (the engineering school building), our apartment building on 122nd St., etc. The attached photo is from our wedding." 

“Carman 12. 1985. My wife and I met our freshman year. We both lived on the 12th Floor of Carman Hall. She came from a private school in Connecticut. I came from a public school in Pennsylvania. She knew French. I knew football. We both were still dating others from back home. But not for long. For me, I knew right away that she was the girl for me -- pretty, intelligent and fun to be with. For her, I'm not so sure of her original thoughts -- I was a little more rough around the edges than she was used to, but at least she thought I was cute. She came to my football games and my Fiji parties. I went with her to Bacchante concerts and Cannons. Our college romance was more on-again/off-again. But when the spring of 1989 came around and decisions had to be made about what happens next, we both knew that we wanted to be with each other. So, we each decided to go to graduate school in NYC. When never did discuss marriage, but then again, we never did discuss leaving each other. After our four years at Columbia, we realized that we were indeed meant for each other. Two years after graduating we were married (with two friends from Carman 12 as part of the wedding party). That's over 22 years and counting. We often reminisce about our college days. It's fun to share the same college stories. It's great to have the same friends from Columbia. And it's convenient to both know where to get the biggest slice of pizza in NYC. Our bond is that much stronger because we went to Columbia together. I had a wonderful time at Columbia; I became a better person by going to Columbia. But, honestly, the best part about being at Columbia was being assigned to the 12th floor of Carman. I love you, Cristina. Roar Lions Roar.”

"I met my future wife and best friend on Carman 10 our freshman year. She lived across the hall from me, we started dating as sophomores, and the rest is history. The wedding is June 21st this year, and there will be a strong Columbia presence. Here we are dressed as a chicken and a Rabbi for Halloween."

"I was a medical student at Columbia in the summer of 2003. One afternoon I saw a beautiful girl having lunch outside of the medical library in Washington Heights and I worked up the nerve the introduce myself. As it turned out she was a resident in neurology, and unbeknownst to me I had already signed up for a neurology rotation at Harlem Hospital during the same month that she would be there.

During our month working together I tried to hide my affections since there is an unspoken rule that medical students and residents shouldn’t get romantically involved. I thought I would be clever and arrange time to be with her by signing up for overnight-call every night that she was scheduled to do this same. This turned out to be pretty transparent, but fortunately she took notice of me too.

At the end of the rotation I moved to Washington D.C. to start a medical research year. When I returned to New York to pick a pick up a few items from my apartment she called me up. A week later we had our first date on the Staten Island Ferry. Free from the constraints of working together on a medical team, we hit it off immediately. I spent the rest of the year taking the Chinatown bus from D.C. to New York to see her, and bring her snacks and things to read during her 30 hour hospital shifts. By the time I graduated from medical school we were engaged.

MaryAlice and I got married in 2006, and have lived in the Bay Area of Northern California for the last 8 years. We both work as clinical neurologists and have two children, Ezra and Polly. I never imagined that love could bloom at Harlem Hospital, but it did, and we will always cherish our time there together.

I have attached a photo of us with our kids at a recent outing to Ano Nuevo, California." -Josiah and MaryAlice 

"I guess it was the red, off the shoulder dress that caught his attention. We must credit Jennifer Beales and the whole Flashdance era for that. As my husband says, who could resist this dusky jewel from Queens, especially when I ignored him for so long?

We were both students in the class of 1987, the first year women were admitted to the College, andI know we are among just a few history makers to have found a lasting love during those college years. My husband's father, a CC alum himself, never got over the sense that the "boys" were "ignored" , all the media attention and focus on us young women, cameras trailing us as we tramped up the steps of Carmen with our belongings - the elevators never did seem to work that first day. We NYC girls could not imagine that the pimply faced freshmen boys would keep our attention for long, so we ventured out beyond our grade and beyond the campus to find adventure.

While not otherwise steeped in Thucidydes, I was off campus a lot while C was in a fraternity and building his Columbia campus life. He recalls repeatedly saying hello to me in the dorm elevators - I don't believe him!

After exciting junior years abroad, I at Oxford, he at Edinburgh, we were destined to meet "officially" our senior year with the aid of a good friend who insisted the Hartley hall penthouse party C. was throwing would be a nice start to our otherwise "sophisticated" NY evening. She was right, stench of beer and some overripe roommates notwithstanding, he was charming. And seriously cute.

We could not have been more opposite - he, a jocky Econ major from the country, me, a musical theater / Art History girl from the city. He had an Italian last name but looks like a Swiss honor guard. I surprised all with my Irish last name but looks from the Bay of Naples. We both still love to tell the story of our first date - I think it was my idea - which was a run through Riverside Park. He was so unbelievably fast that within just a few blocks he was running ahead and circling back to me just to keep his heart rate up. At the end of the run I will never forget how he leapt onto the narrow metal rail which spiraled around the wide stone steps and balanced like a trapeze artist until he got to the top - it was a feat of agility i now see at the root of the great athletic ability in our sons. How many mountains those calves have climbed since then!

Four children later, I definitely have the sense that I have sacrificed a good percentage of my brain cells to and in service of my offspring. Its so lucky for me that my husband can remember the parties at the Plex, the classes we took together and the classmates of our college years. He is our memory repository, our loyal tie to the college - he is the cheerleader and the one who never forgets to contribute on our joint behalf as John Jay Scholars to the school we both owe so much to.

We were married in the chapel on campus 22 years ago. The centerfold of our wedding album features us surrounded by our friends leaping into the air on the steps of Low Library. Columbia is at our core hearts and for that we will always be grateful." 

"In the Fall of 1995 during our freshman year, Tamara and I met for the first time at the old Columbia boathouse. I was a wearing my Lebanon Football t-shirt and sitting on a bucket in the old boat shed before practice one afternoon when I heard this girl behind me rudely blurt out, "you aren't from Lebanon, Pennsylvania are you?" I spun around and quickly replied, "No! I'm from Lebanon, Tennessee!" That was the first time I ever laid eyes on my boat's coxswain and my eventual wife. In an odd twist of fate, her father's hometown in Pennsylvania, with which she was apparently not impressed, shared its name with my hometown down south. We started dating later our freshman year and did our best to keep our relationship secret from our team until a varsity rower, namely Tim (CC'97), busted us while he worked the early morning shift at his swipe-and-surrender post in the John Jay lobby. We found out years later that our coach knew all along, because he had found a mix-tape on the floor of the crew van. (Yes, I made her a mix-tape.) After dating throughout college and graduating in May 1999, we endured a long-distance relationship while working in different cities and attending separate grad schools. In August 2006, we finally married and ultimately settled in Nashville, just 27 miles west of the small town that gave rise to our first conversation over ten years earlier. We now have a dog (Wrigley), two boys (John, 4, and Finn, 2) and another child on the way. We are confident that John, Finn and their to-be-named sibling will get accepted to Columbia. After all, it is kind of responsible for them." 

“Even though we shared Prof. Gulati's Principles of Economics class in the Spring '05 semester of freshman year, Vladimir (SEAS '08) and I did not actually meet each other until the fall semester of junior year, thanks to the water bugs in McBain and our new mutual friends in Wein, where I had moved after the leak & water bug incidents! After we met, Vlad began visiting his friends in Wein a lot more often, and before we knew it, our relationship blossomed into so much more than we could have ever imagined. We made it official, and tied the knot in Summer 2012 in New York, the city we hold so dear for bringing us together, and Istanbul, my hometown, in the company of dear friends from Columbia, who brought us together. The rest is history...”

“Emanuele came to America to gain an education within the enriching international environment of Columbia University. Here he found a home, as well as great support from professors, fellow students and Alumni, far away from his native Italy. Lisa had completed her undergraduate studies here as well years prior. It was within the setting of their Alma Mater campus, amidst the romantic scenery of the Christmas lights on college walk, where Lisa and Emanuele spent their first date, and soon after fell in love. In 2009, their union was celebrated on campus at Saint Paul’s Chapel followed by the reception at The Italian Academy. Today they continue their journey together with their son Luca and another one on the way.”

“Way back in 1962 or thereabouts, Patricia Day Bennett, a student of Jacques Barzun, and Sol Stein, a graduate student of Lionel Trilling, joined with their mentors Trilling and Barzun in what became The Mid-Century Book Society. The Society gave birth to a small weekly magazine "The Mid-Century" which eventually became The Mid-Century Book Society, which held a weekly meeting that had an extraordinary record of what they called "creative collaboration". Their little weekly magazine thrived for quite a long while especially because W. H. Auden was invited to join the meetings at which books were selected for sale. The two Columbia graduate students took more than a liking to each other and encouraged by Barzun and Trilling married at a grand wedding at Columbia. In time the newlyweds produced the Stein and Day publishing company and seven children.”

“Coming from opposite sides of the world – Michael from the UK and Marissa from Australia – neither of us really knew what to expect from our time in New York or Columbia University. Little did we know we’d end up finding a whole lot more than we could ever imagine! We met in Avery Hall, the neo-Renaissance building. A building of suitable architectural heritage: quite a fitting and poetic place for a first meeting in the summer of 2009. Its winding, spiral stair wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter novel. Quaint and yet magical, unerringly inviting. Our first encounter, though, was in room 404 – a nondescript tutorial room for a history and theory seminar. Not so romantic, but what can you do? We did, however, become largely inseparable from this moment.

We remember fondly a particularly cold winter's night in December 2009; we were in studio working towards the end of semester presentation and finally called it a night sometime around 4am – after not venturing or looking outside of a window the whole day – and went to make for home. When we trudged down the same spiral stair we saw the entire campus covered in a pristine snowfall. The sky hang heavily with a fiery purple colour and the moonlight bounced off the snow, as the antique lampposts seemed to flicker. The campus was deathly quiet and we were completely alone, together.

Neither of us had seen snow quite like this. As we wandered towards the plaza, with all its grandiose architecture, we made our way to the tree-lined promenade where each tree was embellished by a thousand fairy lights, twinkling – as is customary during the Holiday season. The plaza seemed huge. Like excited kids we ran around throwing snowballs. It was magical. To tread on fresh snow, stepping on something no one else has ever stepped on, was electrifying; and what's more, it was just us. New York has any number of great places: Times Square, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, etc. But none of them compare to the promenade that night. This is why Michael chose to propose to Marissa right there, just two years later. And that night, just like the snow-filled night two years previous, made the world seem entirely theirs and that anything was possible. An enduring emotion instilled by our brief but incredible time at Columbia. We were married in Sydney, Australia on January 2, 2014.”

“I met my husband while I was attending Columbia University’s School of the Arts and he was studying neuroscience at the Teachers College. Although we were excelling in our academic lives, we were hitting new lows in our personal lives. Coincidentally, we had both gone through emotionally draining breakups, and falling in love or finding our soul mate were the last things lingering on our occupied minds. One brutally frigid February evening, while I was out with a group of my friends at a local pub, I met him. He put a crisp white napkin on in front of me while standing on the other side of the bar and said, "What can I get you?" Besides the whiskey on the rocks he served me, he provided me with a life that I couldn’t imagine having at the time. We got married after I completed my fiction writing studies at the School of the Arts and after he accepted an offer to attend Temple University's Ph.D program to study Neuroscience. Life isn't slowing down for us and we’re certainly not complaining. I'm married to a man who’ve restored my faith in marriage, love, and life. Now, with our 6 month old son, we can’t wait for our next adventure.”

"My wife Melissa and I met through taekwondo at Columbia. I was SEAS' 03, she was CC'04. Here is a photo of us skiing and diving."

“I don't remember the exact day I met Nick freshman year, but I remember thinking of him as one of the handful of John Jay hotties: tall, cute, cool and just out of my reach. We had friends in common, and he was always friendly to me, but I didn't think I would ever catch his attention. I never talked to him one-on-one, I'm sure if that had ever happened I would have melted into a puddle. I got a little electric charge whenever I saw him in the elevator or out in the hall. I saw him throughout my four years, and we hung out in groups, but it wasn't until the end of senior year that I was finally confident enough to flirt with him. Encouraged by a mutual friend, I asked him to meet me at Bachannal. I finally got to talk to him alone, and the next weekend, he asked me out! Two weeks later we were spending almost every waking hour together, and it has pretty much been like that for the last (almost) two years. I am very happy and I can't wait to see what the future brings, even though he still makes me nervous.”

“My husband (Jonathan CC '07) and I met back in high school in NYC. Though we were not officially dating, we remained close during our years at Columbia together (2003-2007) and in celebration of that, he proposed in front of Alma Mater looking out on Butler Library on November 9, 2010. Attached is a picture taken from later that evening. We married on July 4, 2011. We have since moved to California, however Columbia holds a very special place in our hearts and minds. We always make an effort to visit campus when we return to NY and have only happy memories of our college days and our engagement evening. We hope our children will also be able to call Columbia home one day :)” 

“I met Blake, the love of my life, on COOP, Columbia's Outdoor (Hiking) Orientation Program. We started at opposite ends of the trail, and overlapped one night during the four day trip. When setting up camp and chatting, I realized that Blake was also a Connecticutian. Super excited, I pressed for specifics, soon realizing that for the previous twelve years, we had practically been next-door neighbors. (Later, we even found video of us singing together at the same summer camp production when we were 5!)

Throughout college, we remained friends, growing closer every year.

After we both ended up in Connecticut for the summer after graduating in 2005, we started dating. Four years later, we moved in together, making our first home in a cute apartment in Greenwich Village. Two years after that, Blake proposed! (And I said yes, of course!)

We were married in October 2012, surrounded by our Columbia friends, right here in New York City. At our wedding, our rabbi told our story, clarifying that he often tells his congregants that he doesn't believe in kismet (fate), but in our case, he had to make an exception.

We still live in the city in that same apartment -- now, with a kitten -- and actually work at two different start-ups that share the same building. But isn't that how life works out...” 

“I first saw my beautiful wife and mother of my three amazing daughters in a general chemistry class of the post Baccalaureate pre-medical program at Columbia in the Fall of 1993. I got up the courage to approach her in the cafeteria of the business school before an exam in early November 1993 and gave her the following pick up line “Do you have any old exams?” Well it worked! We had our first date at a Chinese restaurant near campus on Broadway soon after and got married on June 23rd, 1996. It has been 17 incredible years together with Patricia. I became an orthodontist and Patricia is a pediatric Nurse practitioner.”

“Met my fiance our first day at Columbia and we just got engaged. We met in August 2008, at the main orientation day on the philosophy lawn. She came from Russia. I came from France. At the end of that day we decided to look for apartments together (as roommates at first). Since then we've been inseparable and got engaged last June. Getting married next August. I've actually been toying with the idea of carving a short blurb into one of the trees on that lawn, to immortalize the moment. Or a plaque if we want to spare the tree.”

“I met Phil S. in line at the GSAS convocation in 2013. All the students had to line up along the ramps within Lerner Hall, in alphabetical order by department name. I was graduating with a M.A. in Climate and Society, and he was the sole person graduating with a M.A. in Classics that year. I'm friendly and he was alone (and pretty cute) so I struck up a conversation with him and we hit it off immediately. We went out on our first date within the week, where we realized that both of us almost didn't attend the graduation ceremony for various reasons. It would have been so easy for us to have never met, but the fates were clearly in our favor. This is the best relationship either of us have ever been in, and as far as I'm concerned he is the love of my life.” 

“I met Phil S. in line at the GSAS convocation in 2013. All the students had to line up along the ramps within Lerner Hall, in alphabetical order by department name. I was graduating with a M.A. in Climate and Society, and he was the sole person graduating with a M.A. in Classics that year. I'm friendly and he was alone (and pretty cute) so I struck up a conversation with him and we hit it off immediately. We went out on our first date within the week, where we realized that both of us almost didn't attend the graduation ceremony for various reasons. It would have been so easy for us to have never met, but the fates were clearly in our favor. This is the best relationship either of us have ever been in, and as far as I'm concerned he is the love of my life.” 

“I'm pretty sure I never would have come to Columbia, or even applied, if not for my being mad for a girl a month older than I was but a year further in her education, who was a Barnard freshman when I was a senior in high school. I've joked about being the worst-prepared freshman in the class of 1975, and maybe the history of the college, but it is no joke to remember that, until she told me about Columbia, I believed that Columbia was located in the American South somewhere, probably in South Carolina. This was actually intriguing to me, because after living my first seventeen winters in New York City, the thought of spending my next four winters in a milder climate was appealing. By the time I'd gotten reoriented geographically, and had gotten my hands on an application form, this girl had lovingly described her freshman year in such glowing terms I reconciled myself to New York City winters, and in short order, had applied, been interviewed and then accepted, and I arrived on campus the next September. Drawn as I was to the curriculum and the red bricks of Hamilton Hall, I was even more pleased by the chance to pursue this lovely girl, which I spent most of the next three years assiduously doing. We took one class together, Matthew Winston's course on Black Humor (where he had to admonish us once to stop flirting), but really I knew each of her courses across Broadway as intimately as she knew mine and amid ups and downs and adventures, she and I got married six summers after I graduated, and had two delightful daughters together as we completed our Masters', our doctorates and taught together at two universities in upstate New York. I wish I could report a more cheering ending (we divorced some twenty years ago) but I am forever grateful to Carolyn Y., Barnard '74, for first drawing my attention in the most visceral way imaginable to Columbia and getting me started on the road to my education. The photo attached was taken about a year before our wedding.”

“Back in 2005 I was living in Israel, trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with my then-girlfriend Inna F. Inna was getting her Doctorate in New York; I decided to apply for an MBA in the US with the hope of being accepted to a top-tier school, close to her geographically. By then we had been flying back and forth between Israel and New York for two years; staying apart was not an option. I applied to the MBA programs at Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, MIT and NYU. I was accepted to all of them. I chose Columbia without any hesitation. Columbia gave me the opportunity to be finally reunited with the love of my life (while also getting great education...). Inna and I are now happily married, and have a lovely 2 year old son.”

“Louis and Aylin met in Scottsdale Arizona in 2005 at a young alumni gathering, only 1 of 1 events. It was a cold Feb night; we chatted at the event for over an hour and went on a date the very next week which lasted 3 hours despite our busy schedules. The chemistry was obvious and easy. We got married in 2007 at the Arizona Biltmore and now live in Seattle, WA with our 2 children, Azalea (age 4) and Kenan (9 months). We hope they go to Columbia too!” - Louis '99VPS and Aylin '03SEAS '2003SEAS, '08BUS 

“I arrived at Columbia College in the fall of 1990 as a gangly teen. It started to become apparent to me that I was out of my social depth when they handed out a book consisting of photos of all the incoming freshman—make that “first years”—and mine stood out like a sore thumb. While others, recognizing and seizing the crucial opportunity to put on their best face for the judgmental eyes of 800 classmates, had their pictures taken either professionally or at least with some amount of consideration and design, I had gone to the booth at the local Woolworth’s (they still existed back then) and did my deer-in-headlights when the flashbulb popped. This deeply-flattering photo provided many hours of joy to the other residents of Carman 3, thus helping them through the long winter of 1990-91.

The following spring, I went with about a dozen Columbians to meet a college alum who worked in the corner office of a white-shoe midtown law firm. He gave us a talk about his college days that included the story of how he met his wife on the subway at the 116th Street station. I remember pondering whether I, too, would meet my wife during my time at Columbia. It turns out that I did, though this would have come as a great shock to my 22-year-old self if you had mentioned it to me at my graduation.

I first met Marina through my suitemate, who happened to be dating her at the time. She and I became very close friends as college wore on, and—as those who attended our wedding might remember—I used to cite her as the sole exception to my working theory that men and women cannot be friends. We started dating during my first year of law school (bridging the distance on Peter Pan buses between Boston and New York), thus definitively proving my theory about men and women by eliminating the sole exception.

We married in 1999 and had future Columbians Maddie (a vegetarian, CC ’24 we hope) and Maya (our carnivore, CC ’26 if we can still afford) soon after. We showed them how to find the owl in Alma Mater’s robe before they could walk. We explained to them that Butler Library is the one without the books. And we take them to homecoming every year so they can learn that sports aren’t everything in life.” -Erik G. '94CC and Marina '94CC

“Jaclyn M. and I met in 2003 at the Columbia casino night. I knew when she sat down at the blackjack table with me that she was the one. It's also interesting that the first photo ever taken of us both together was by the Columbia Spectator at that very blackjack table! It's now eleven years later and we have two great boys and have been married 4 years. Now living in Cleveland Ohio. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I love you Jackie. Happy valentines day. FYI, I have my hand raised in the picture and Jackie is the brunette sitting at the table looking at me with a smile. We are separated by her sophomore year roommate, Stephanie S., and my friend and John Jay 13 floormate, Jim K.” – Michael V.

“On March 13, 2009, Shayan and I had arranged to go to the Seoul Central Mosque while the rest of our Columbia Business School classmates on the Chazen Korea Tour went to a Buddhist temple. When we arrived, the site of the mosque took our breaths away. As we stood at the top of the steps, Shayan said, “This is the perfect blend of both of our cultures,” and then asked me if it was okay that we were there. I responded, “Yes, of course. I love everything about you!” He replied, “I love everything about you, too.”

He then crouched down and began rustling through his backpack. I was getting a little impatient because I wanted to take a picture of this amazing monument. I was urging him to hurry up when he got down on one knee. With nervousness in his voice, he began, “So, I brought you here to ask you something.” At this point my mind went blank – literally – all I could see was his face and his eyes tearing up, which at that point made me start crying as well. I was in such a state of disbelief that his voice came out as if everything were moving in slow motion. “Julie Ann S., will you marry me?”

When I finally overcame the shock, I shouted, “YES, ABSOLUTELY!” He then removed my class ring and as he put on another ring – a beautiful gold and ruby ring that his mother received on her wedding day – he said, “This is a placeholder. Yours is being custom made right now.” I was so excited, I immediately jumped down to give him a hug and a kiss. The ring was such a thoughtful and lovely gesture. As we descended down the steps, an old man came up to us and said, “You guys can’t hug and kiss like that here!” It was funny at the time, but I also thought it was symbolic. It was certainly a reality check for me.

I was overjoyed at the thought of spending the rest of my life with the most wonderful person I know, but this man reminded me that this relationship would take work. I knew that an interfaith, multi-cultural marriage would not be easy, but I believed then and still believe that it’s one worth fighting for. The proposal could not have been more romantic or more unique. It was even more special when Shayan told me that words at the top of the musjid say, “God is great.” How true! The mosque is also located near the area where my parents first met so it was even more meaningful to me. Overall, it couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Shayan and I have been married for nearly five years now, and last year – on Christmas Eve 2012 – we welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Ranya Grace, into the world. She is a future Columbia Business School student in the making!”

“I entered Columbia College in the Class of 1958 but I graduated in October 1957 by going to two summer school sessions. I entered Columbia P&S in September 1957 and lived in Bard Hall. There was a Christmas concert in Bard Hall in early December 1958 where I met Helen Z. who worked in Microbiology and Virology under Dr. Harry Rose. I introduced myself at the end of the concert and we started dating. On our second date in January 1959, by the lion at Low Memorial Library at Columbia College, I proposed and Helen accepted. We eloped and were married at the courthouse in Reno, NV on August 8, 1959. This coming August, we will be married 55 years. The enclosed photo shows us with our daughter Andrea and her husband Leo and their three children, and our son Rob and his wife Laura and their two children. And we lived happily ever after.” - William R., M.D. 

“I met my now-husband during my first year at Columbia law school. He was the cute guy in Constitutional Law, and I was the girl who blushed any time he turned around and smiled at me. We finally started dating after Barrister's Ball, and moved in together a few months later. At the beginning of 3L year, he proposed. We were married last September.

I will always remember Columbia as the place where we got to know each other and fell head-over-heels in love. We pulled grueling all-nighters during exam week, ate countless quesadillas at the Heights, spent some sunny afternoons on the quad, and, finally, donned our light blue graduation robes together in the spring of 2012. I never expected to fall in love during law school, but coming to Columbia was truly the best decision I've ever made.” - Laura M. (and Michael M.)

“Stacy and Jon met in April of 1986 at a party hosted by fellow law students Alice and Lenny S. The party included many students who had been in or worked on the Law Revue show. Stacy had co-choreographed it the year before, and Jon had produced that year’s show. Not knowing Stacy or her role in the show, Jon was vociferously insulting the dance numbers in the previous year’s show to a group of friends when Stacy entered the conversation and introduced herself. He was suitably embarrassed. Apparently they overcame this first obstacle in their relationship, because they started dating the very next day and have not been apart since. They were married at the beginning of Spring Break in 1988, ensuring that Jon would have a full week off for a honeymoon. They celebrated their Silver Anniversary last year. Stacy and Jon have recently moved from their longtime home of St. Paul, Minnesota to Cincinnati, Ohio. They have two sons, neither of whom wishes to attend law school at this time.” – Stacy G. ’87LAW and Jon G. ’88LAW

“Ethan M. was just finishing up his masters in mechanical engineering. Elana M. was just starting her masters in strategic communications. They were both looking for new jobs and attended a Columbia career fair in Alfred Lerner Hall. Eventually each took a break and went looking for the water fountain. They didn't find jobs that day, but they did find love. ;)” - Elana and Ethan M

"Wendan L and Yufei L met during freshman orientation, on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after an NSOP event. After finding out that they were in the same Calculus class, they began spending more time together doing homework, talking on Low steps late into the night, and exploring their new home of New York City. They officially became a couple in October 2008 and the rest, as they say, is history! Four years later, Wendan and Yufei both graduated magna cum laude and moved across the country to San Francisco. Currently, Yufei works as a software engineer at Twitter and Wendan is a first year dental student at the University of California, San Francisco. They live together in their apartment in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. They are looking forward to visiting New York and Columbia together for the first time since graduation next month!" -Wendan L ’12CC ‘ and Yufei L ’12SEAS 

"When I first found out about my acceptance to CBS in early 2008, I was excited about the prospect of learning, furthering my career and meeting new friends. However, I did not start school with the intention of finding love or a soul mate. I met Reuben on the first night of orientation at Havana Central. At the time, our encounter was brief, since we were all busy getting to know our incoming class. As fate would have it, I saw Reuben the very next day in our Cluster E orientation. Over time, I got to know Reuben through various cluster outings, happy hours and marathon study sessions at the Watson library. In the beginning, we started out as friends, but we soon realized that our relationship was something more special. We began dating soon after and haven’t looked back since. Through our inseparable days in business school to Reuben’s romantic proposal in Paris over our 2010 spring break to our 2011 wedding at St. Paul’s Chapel on Campus, CBS has played a pivotal role in every aspect of our relationship. When we welcomed our son Joshua last fall, I realized that all of the wonderful things in my life would not have been possible if I hadn’t decided to attend CBS. The school will always have a special place in my heart, since it was the place where I fell in love and found my best friend and soul mate.” – Jane and Reuben, ’10BUS, Cluster E

“Happy Valentine! Red light for dating someone in your own cluster, yellow light for dating someone from another cluster - the latter risk we decided to take: Alice (Cluster Y) and Roberto (Cluster Z). Our story started even before school started. From the Columbia Facebook page we knew we were both J-term intakes and randomly met up in Naples, where Roberto is from, and where Alice went on vacation.

We went on every spring break and other vacation together, every Columbia and random NY party and nearly shared all electives and studied for them together. We went through highs and lows - a lot of our Columbia friends and peers know that in one or the other way 🙂 - but now 1.5 years after graduation we are still going strong and we build on a lot of fun and exciting experience together!” - Alice ’12 and Roberto ’12

“We met during Columbia Business School orientation in the fall of 2004. I was a peer adviser for Eric's cluster despite being 5 years his junior. At some point in between chants of "Cluster H Rocks" and rounds of advice such as "don't be THAT guy," I noticed his blue eyes and his smile. We became friends, chatting at Uris deli happy hours (I, of course, always giving tremendous peer advice).

In the spring, our class schedules led us to cross paths at least once a day. We stopped to chat on Amsterdam Avenue, on the steps of Low Library, at more Uris deli happy hours and after happy hours at institutions like Jake's Dilemma.

We took a risk and went on a date. We went on another date. We skipped Spring Fling and went to Bermuda. The risk paid off. A year later we were engaged, a year after that we were married, and three years after that, we welcomed a beautiful daughter, Sienna. She has his blue eyes and his smile.

CBS brought us together and prepared us for many things in life - long hours at work, difficult bosses, how to develop solutions to tough problems. But it was tough to be prepared when at age two, Sienna was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP). Basically, FOP causes muscles to turn to bone, progressively restricting movement and leaving patients frozen in place.

I was out of advice.

Fortunately, we discovered that a small team of researchers had been working on developing effective treatments for FOP, and our Columbia training helped us take on leadership roles in the fight for a cure.

Eric is a natural leader and immediately joined the board of the IFOPA (International FOP Association), the non-profit that supports patients and funds research for the cure. The board had representation from loving parents, scientists, and scholars, but it lacked someone with an aggressive commercial mindset. Eric now chairs the research committee and is driving collaboration between researchers and pharmaceutical companies to commercialize a treatment.

I am a marketer, and knew I could contribute by helping get the research team the dollars they needed to continue their research. I began fundraising right away, launching a website, planning fundraising events, and creating our own "Sienna" brand based on her love of flowers. With generous collaboration from Connelly Partners advertising agency, we launched www.siennasflowergarden.com. To date, we have raised over $150,000 through the flower garden and other events, and we are still going. Many of our classmates have supported us in our fight.

We believe a clinical trial for an effective treatment that could save Sienna's life is right around the corner, and we couldn't have gotten to where we are today without our love for each other, for Sienna, and the love and support of the Columbia community.” - Rory '05BUS & Eric '06BUS

“Bel, a native of the Philippines, grew up primarily in the San Francisco area, while Mark was raised in Ohio and Indiana. It appears we were destined to meet in NYC. We both came to Columbia in the early 70's but did not know each other until late in our college lives. Bel was a junior at the School of Nursing and Mark was a senior in the College when we first were introduced in 1977 in the apartment of a mutual group of friends. Although nothing special happened that time, we both certainly noticed each other and were attracted. By the summer of 1977 we went on our first date - a free Phoebe Snow concert in Central Park. The match was struck, and we were married in San Francisco in June 1979. We loved Manhattan and enjoyed living there for another two years after our marriage.

We moved to Long Island to raise a family. We have three lovely daughters (now ages 31, 29, and 28, living in the NY metro area). One of those daughters works at the Columbia University Medical Center.

We will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary later this year, and still keep in touch with some of our closest friends from those years at Columbia.” - Bel A. '78NRS and Mark L. '77CC 

“Living in NYC, I've seldom known my neighbors. My time at Columbia, however, was very different. I used to hear the heels next door incessantly - late at night, early in the morning, they were seemingly always there. I’d chased after them a few times to see who they belonged to, but always to no avail. When I finally met her she was perfect: tall and beautiful with green eyes. She was the girl next door and I was instantly infatuated. I would spend the upcoming days taking my breaks in Butler Library coming up with ways I could run into her again. Laps down college walk forecasting our next chance encounter were routine. Frankly, I thought about her all the time during those days, and I’m glad to say I still do. She is now my wife of 5 years, and she is more perfect than ever. Being on campus is sentimental for me not only because of the friends and colleagues it represents but more so because it takes me back to the days when I first met my wife, of falling in love with her and starting our life together. There is no better feeling, and no recollections as precious as these.” - Theo B. 

“Thirty years ago, Brian L. and Melissa W. met at an Irish Bar on St. Patrick’s Day. Melissa was originally on the way to the library to complete a paper when classmates intervened, saying “Oh no! This is New York, it is St. Patrick’s Day and you are coming with us to the parade first and then to meet a friend at an Irish Bar.” After the Fifth Avenue festivities, they headed to the Financial District for an evening of Irish folk songs, dinner and drink. The group met Brian and they sat at a large table with other revelers. As the crowd at the table became boisterous, Melissa turned to Brian to deflect unwanted attention. They now live in Branford, CT after raising two children.” - Melissa ’83NRS and Brian ’81SIPA

“While we met pre-Columbia, we only started dating during our graduate studies there, and Columbia was the natural place to get married. This picture is of our May 1975 wedding in St. Paul's Chapel (noted at the time in the NY Times), which was followed by a luncheon/reception in Butler Hall.” - Andrea ’73SIPA and Pal ’69CC, ’76GSAPP