Alumni Sweethearts 2022
Love is in the air at GW!
We asked alumni to share stories of how they fell in love at GW. From residence hall romances to classroom courtships, here are some of their stories told in their own words.
Kate Pena, BBA ‘14, and Ryan Gillis, BBA ‘14
“Ryan and I were classmates well before we officially met, as we were both marketing concentrations in the business school. We became fast friends senior year in Lynda Maddox's Advanced Advertising class. There we both participated in the National Student Advertising Competition together (where we placed first in our region). We started dating spring of 2014 right before graduation and then both moved to NYC to pursue careers in marketing. We spent time at various ad agencies there, made great memories, and then ended up boomeranging back to DC in Fall 2019. Currently, we both work in the travel industry, which is both a professional and personal passion for us! Ryan proposed last spring at the back of the Lincoln Memorial and planned a surprise event with our family and friends immediately following - it was a perfect day. Our wedding is this fall in DC and we can't wait to celebrate with family and friends, many of which are fellow GW alums!" – Kate
Photo courtesy of e. losinio photography
Corinne Gammon, BA ‘15, and Aidan Hussin, BA ‘15
“We actually lived on the same floor of West Hall, but sparks didn't fly until a mutual friend introduced us at a Sigma Nu frat party in November of freshman year. The following week we had a very awkward first date at the Gelman Library Starbucks, but luckily Aidan decided to give me a call back and we’ve been together ever since! We were finally married this past November, surrounded by many of our closest GW friends - almost 10 years to the day of when we started dating.” – Corinne
Sophie-Anne B. Sachs, MA ‘19, and Adam Sachs, MA ‘19
“We met on Orientation Day in August 2017. Every Thursday, we would attend our school’s Thursday Night Out (TNO) events around DC. We stayed connected through our shared love of the French language and our need to study for the proficiency exam.” – Sophie-Anne
Stacey (Fried) Kane, BA ‘91, MPA ‘93, and Daniel Kane, BBA ‘91
“I was a transfer student my sophomore year and was assigned to Crawford Hall. I moved in not knowing anyone. Dan lived across the hall from me and was one of the first people I met. I remember thinking he was the RA! We became friends. Even though we didn't have any classes together, we remained good friends even after we moved out of Crawford. He was also close friends with my roommate (in fact he asked her out before ever asking me out… she declined). After graduation he moved back to New Jersey while I stayed in DC. That summer I was a Resident Director at Strong Hall and I was looking forward to starting as a GW Presidential Fellow in the fall. Over the summer we communicated quite a bit and he ended up moving back to DC. That's when we started dating. I guess when it was just the two of us without my roommate we discovered that we had deeper feelings for each other. We dated for five years and have been married for 25!” – Stacey
Leslie L. Megyeri, BA ’63, JD ’68, MBA ‘80, and Kathy Wilker Megyeri, MA ’69, MA ’82
“We were both enrolled in a speech class in the summer of 1963 as I wanted to get rid of my Hungarian accent and Kathy wanted to become a speech therapist but we both failed as I still have my accent and Kathy never became a therapist. On our first date, we joined a group of fellow students who were walking to the Lincoln Memorial to join the March on Washington where we heard Rev. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and heard Marion Anderson sing ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.’ Little did we know then that now, after 52 years of marriage, we still vividly recall that historical event and momentous first date, all thanks to meeting each other at GW.” – Leslie
Jorge Tapies, MBA ‘98, and Jennifer Hobbie Tapies, MBA ‘98
“Monday, first day of orientation week for MBA program. I entered the old auditorium in the University Student Center and immediately saw this gorgeous blonde girl sitting across the room. She wore a black summer dress and a denim jacket and looked incredibly smart and sexy. Little did I know when I entered my first class, she was already sitting there, so I knew she was going to be in all my cohort classes for at least one year. I thought: ‘Score...’ Fast forward 25 years, and our daughter is now a senior at the Elliott School and loves the campus/city as much as we did.” – Jorge
Daniel A. Harvill, BA ’97, and Kathryn T. Harvill, BA ’00
“My wife and I met at a get-together at my fraternity house, Sigma Chi, back when it was on G Street. It was February 17, 1996, a cold winter Saturday night. I was interested in her that night, but the feeling wasn’t mutual. She did, however, look me up and just "happened" to run into me the following Thursday. I invited her to another get-together, this time at my house, on the following Saturday, February 24, 1996. She let me kiss her that night and now we’ve been together for almost 26 years. We recently celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary along with our four beautiful children (one of whom is interested in applying to GW in a couple of years). That party was the best one I ever went to, even though she totally shot me down at first. Now, I've lived with her in my life longer than I ever lived life without her. And what a great life it's been.” – Daniel
Shayna Bergman, BA ‘06, and Jesse Bergman, BA ‘06
“The housing letter I received before attending GW in 2002 stated that I would be living on the Mount Vernon Campus. While I was excited about the prospect of being somewhere so serene, I knew that part of the reason I applied to GW was to be in the middle of DC. So, I contacted GW and asked to be moved to Foggy Bottom. Little did I know that making that change would place me conveniently close to the person who was to become the love of my life. Jesse and I were next door neighbors our freshman year in Thurston Hall (Rooms 934 and 936). The first night in the dorms, Jesse and his roommates were playing guitar while other new freshmen were popping in and out of their room excitedly making new friends. I popped in for a bit, saw Jesse play, and then moved onto the next open door. Over the first few months of school, my friendship with Jesse grew, especially as we volunteered together through CARE, our 9th floor’s community service organization. We quickly discovered a shared love of jazz music, studying in Kogan Plaza with hot cocoa and long conversations. While any of our roommates and friends would tell you they saw the sparks, it took Jesse and me a bit longer to formally start dating. Our young love grew quickly, as did we, and while we each found our own extracurricular interests at GW, our love and friendship stayed strong.” – Shayna
Alexis Valdovinos, MA ‘18, and Stephanie Joy Heredia, MA ‘19
“I was pursuing Latin American Studies and finishing up my last semester at the Elliott School, and Stephanie was just starting her first semester of graduate studies in the same program. A mutual friend invited me to join an art and culture event at the Embassy of Uruguay. As I was leaving Elliott that night, I saw someone attempt to park in front of the school without checking the street signs, and I was worried they would get a ticket since I had just gotten one the week before. So I got to the car and started to give some unsolicited parking advice. Lo and behold, it was Stephanie… and as you’d expect, she was unimpressed. But we saw our friends and off we went to the event… I pretended to study and appreciate the art, and they were nice, but I noticed my heart beat ever-so-fast every time I caught sight of her. I would occasionally meander towards her and try to impress with a quip or two about the art, and she would remark thoughtfully, but then we’d move on. This little dance kept going throughout the night, but just as the event was about to end, I overheard her asking to play on a gorgeous piano in the main room. The instant she started playing those sweet notes, I couldn't help but fall for her. I loved everything about her -- her boldness, skill, confidence. Every key she played melted my heart. I knew then she was someone special… after a year of meet-cutes, we started dating, and we've been happily together ever since!” – Alexis
Michael Schmidt, BA ’78, MBA ’85, and Bruce C. Craig, BA ’78, MA ’84
“We met in our third year of undergrad, 1976, in a Film Appreciation course. A great elective for both of us: the ‘homework’ was going to classic movies at the Circle Theatre on Pennsylvania Ave, where you bought a book of 10 tickets for 10 movies for $10. We enjoyed discussing our ‘homework’ over many dinners out and became best of friends. When we graduated in 1978, we decided to become "lovers" (that was the term used in those days for gay partners) and move in together. We always considered our anniversary to be the date we moved into our first apartment: June 6, 1978. Sadly, Bruce passed away in 2010 at the age of 53 from pancreatic cancer. We had lived together for 32 years.” – Michael
Olivia Eckstein, BBA ‘21, and Samuel Rivere, BBA ‘21
“We met in Shanghai as we were both participants in the Global Bachelor’s Program. I’m so grateful for this program for many reasons and he is one of them! Even though we were both in GWSB I had never met him before. We started dating a day before we left China. Sam then went for his summer internship in Hong Kong and I traveled. We coincidentally both were doing the business in Paris program the next fall.” – Olivia
Wyn Dobbs, BA ‘18, SMHS ‘23, and Laura Gomez Cadena, BA ‘18
“Laura and I met at J Street in the fall of 2014. I was immediately struck by her in the cafeteria line. I started making conversation with her, but she was completely uninterested. A month later, I saw Lau again at J Street and invited her to sit with me. We immediately hit it off. I took her on our first date on a walk through the monuments, and it was one of the best nights of my life. Seven years later, we are happily married, and I couldn't imagine a better partner. We even just started a podcast together called @healthtechtalks!” – Wyn
Lisa Lampert Simon, BA ‘88, and Tony S. Simon, BA ‘88
“Tony and I met freshman year in Thurston Hall. He lived in a corner room on the second floor and I lived 4 doors down from him. We had an instant connection and began dating in November 1984. We will be celebrating 31 years of marriage in May 2022 but 38 years together total! We actually revisited Thurston for our five year anniversary! Tony planned it ahead of time and surprised me… boom box with favorite songs, lunch, and corner room! He is my better half, my love, and I am thankful for having him in my life every single day!” – Lisa
Darius Farkondepay, BS ‘81, MS ‘83, and Hengameh Mirzai, BA ‘82
“We met at the University Student Center in late 1980 while taking coffee, lunch and afternoon breaks in between classes and started dating on March 3rd 1981. We have been inseparable ever since! We are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary this coming March, March 19, 2022. If it weren't for GW we would have probably never met, never got married, and never had two great kids (Keyana and Daria), never met our son-in-law (Craig) and most importantly never would have enjoyed our two precious grandkids, Aria and Oliver.” – Darius
Roger Louis Chaufournier, BS ’79, MHSA ’83, and Nancy Nicole Chaufournier, BBA ’81
“I met my wife on her first day at GW on the floor of the Smith Center gymnasium. It was recruitment day for clubs and fraternities. I had the responsibility to recruit little sisters for the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity. She was going to be on the basketball team and walked in with her freshman roommate. It was love at first sight. I was successful recruiting her into the fraternity where she became the fraternity’s sweetheart. She had stolen my heart and I knew I was in trouble — I was scared to start dating her. I avoided dating her for a year. That summer, I backpacked through Europe with a fraternity brother, and every day sent her a postcard. She still has the postcards. When I returned, I finally mustered the courage to ask her out one evening early that fall. We walked down to the Lincoln Memorial and sat on the steps looking down toward the Capitol. I knew then, I would be spending the rest of my life with her. We got engaged and married the year after her graduation. I ended up working at GW Hospital and as fate would have it, our four boys all were born at GW Hospital. My daughter was one of the last babies born at the former Columbia Hospital for Women. Our last son went on to be a legacy and graduated from the GW School of Engineering and Applied Science. We have been married for forty years and I still share the same excitement when I see her every day as that first day I met her in the Smith Center.” – Roger
Richard Rosseau, MD ‘85, and Gail Rosseau, MD ‘85, RESD ‘91
“We first met in an evening class of organic chemistry at GW. We both needed it to apply for medical school. Gail was a nurse working at GW Hospital, I was an engineer in the Coast Guard. We were both accepted into the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences class of ‘85, joining a wonderful group of future doctors. We were in different dissection groups but our teams worked closely and bonded over the first year. We planned as a group to travel to Europe with our last free summer. By the time classes ended, only Gail and I were able to go. Needless to say after several weeks in Greece and Italy, we were talking about marriage. We tied the knot the summer of our senior year and have been able to keep the flame going while Gail completed her neurological surgery training and I did orthopaedics in the Navy. Between her fellowship and my serving in Guantanamo Bay, we were apart for months at a time. But we can look back on our life together with satisfaction on our medical careers as well as having two wonderful children, one just graduated from GW medical school this May.” – Richard
- More alumni sweethearts we heard from this year
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Nina Rosenow, BA ‘18, and Jerry Wood, BA ‘18
Jacqueline Palazzolo, BA ‘18, and Vincent Palazzolo Jr., BA ‘18
Natalie Gadaleta, BS ‘21, and Matthew Adams, BBA ‘21
Adam Firestone, BBA ‘19, and Ellen Boyer, BBA ‘19
Jennifer Jacobson, BA ‘93, and Jason Jacobson, BBA ‘92
Hannah Loveland, MA ‘15, and Michael Loveland, MA ‘15
Jon Oner, BBA ‘09, and Holly Oner, BA ‘09
Caroline (Fox) Zweibel, BA ‘69, and Robert Zweibel, BA ‘73
Beth Kreinces Triester, BA ‘90, and Jeff Triester, BBA ‘90
Clark Munson, BA ‘03, and Alison Alvarez, BA ‘03
Irene Vangsness, BS ‘82, and Rick Berzon, BS ‘82
Camille Daszynski, BS ‘20, MEng ‘21, and Zachary Williams, BS ‘20, MEng ‘21
John Cannon, BBA ‘85, and Ann Burns Cannon, BA ‘85
Josh Lichtenstein, BA ‘09, and Amy Norris, BA ‘09
Matt Rogers, BA ‘90, and Michele Dodds, BA ‘90
Becca Gruber, BBA ‘01, and Antxon Iturbe, BA ‘01
Renee Gaba Blaker, BA ‘68, and Howard Blaker, BA ‘67
Lana Robins, BA ‘16, and Jack Halvorson, BA ‘16
Elizabeth Sun, BS ‘21, and Pierce Carter, BS ‘21
Taylor Budde, MA ‘22, and Thomas Riedy, MA ‘21
Anna Gagliardo, BA ‘17, and Ramy Ahmed, BBA ‘17
Mia Ehudin, BA ‘21, and Brian James, BBA ‘21
Rebecca Klein, BS ‘09, and Kevin Klein, BBA ‘09
Katherine M. Hayes, BA ‘11, and Nick Dreckshage, BA ‘11
Caitlin (Carroll) Granger, BS ‘16, and Roby Granger, BA ‘15
Leah Bassin, BA ‘04, and Eliot Bassin, BAccy ‘04
Justin Buro, BA ‘14, MD ‘19, and Cydney Eckert, BA ‘16
Alexander Washofsky, BA ‘12, and Erica Soultanian, BA ‘14, BS ‘14
Junaid Bashir, MTA ‘21, and Shayan Malik, MAccy ‘19
Phuong Nguyen, MHSA ‘01, and Kenneth Vu, JD ‘96
Lisa Somerstein Kulka, BBA ‘91, and Matthew Kulka, BBA ‘91
Cindy Medina Cervantes, BA ‘12, and Gustavo Ulloa Medina, BBA ‘13
John Rogers, BA '88, and Philomena (Benevides) Rogers, MA '85
Janie Immanuel Longman, BS '14, BA '14, and Chris Longman, BA '13