It's no secret that love blossoms at Bucknell! Enjoy this collection of timeless Bucknellian love stories. 

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If Bucknell is forever a part of your love story, we'd love to hear and share all the details! Send us a photo and description of your story (when, where, how you met and present life highlights), and we'll feature it here and on Instagram @Bucknellalumni. Submit your story via email to advresp@bucknell.edu or the Bucknell in Love form.
Sarah Dubow '13 & Nick Stetz '13
It didn't take long for us to find each other at Bucknell as the Bucknell Housing matchmakers placed us in the same first-year hall - McDonnell 3SW! After months of denying our connection, we shared our first kiss on Halloween of our first year, another on the quad at sunset and started dating shortly thereafter. Our relationship took us to Bucknell en France, together to New York after graduation and then out to Los Angeles where we got engaged. We were married this past summer after 13 years together with multiple generations of Bucknellians, dancing the night away with us. We now have an adorable one year old puppy, Maya. We're so grateful for Bucknell bringing us together. (Just be careful who you kiss on the quad at sunset.)
Dominic Hoffman '16 & Kirsten Fitch '16
Kirsten and I met during our first year in 2012. I was a member of the men’s basketball team and she was a member of the women’s rowing team, so we instantly bonded over being student athletes. We always kind of kept running into each other on campus (either by luck or by design) but it wasn’t until our junior year that we began dating. After graduating, Kirsten moved to the Philadelphia area for work and my job took me to a number of different places, none of which were close to Philadelphia. I even had a stint working at Bucknell for the men’s basketball team. This allowed Kirsten to visit and hit all of our favorite places on campus like sitting out on the quad or on that one specific bench outside of Hunt Hall. A career change in 2021 took me to Philadelphia and the first time Kirsten and I lived in the same place since Lewisburg. In April 2022, I mustered up the courage to ask Kirsten to marry me to which she responded with a resounding “Yes!” After almost 9 years together, we will be married in August of this year. We will always have a special place in our hearts for Bucknell and all that it has provided us with!
John Madison ’81 & Karen (Seymour-Jones) Madison ’80
We met and married thanks to a #1 room pick at Bucknell.  John Madison '81, a chemical engineer, ended up with the #1 room pick his junior year. This secured a nice room in Swartz for John and his roommate, John Erickson '81, on a hall where primarily seniors lived. Sue Alexander Pansius '80 was a great upperclass hall RA - scheduling lots of fun activities. John and I became great friends during the year. As a senior liberal arts major I don't think I would have ever met John without living on the same hall. Shortly before graduation we started dating, got married 3 years later. We still remember going to a 10th year Bucknell reunion and a hallmate ran up to us and exclaimed "You guys got married!" We will celebrate our 40th anniversary this year - all thanks to a #1 room pick. 
Amanada Hart '16 & Matthew Nescio '18
We met during my senior year/Matt's sophomore year and hit it off immediately. We did long distance for about two years while he finished at Bucknell. Matt proposed during Bucknell Homecoming and we were married at Rusty Rail in January 2020. We had 7 other Bucknellians in our bridal party and many more in attendance! 
Meredith (Korengold) Bernstein ‘14 and Scott Bernstein ‘14
Meredith and Scott met on their very first night of orientation in August 2010. Although they both distinctly remember meeting in Meredith's room in Vedder 4SW, they didn't reconnect until November of their senior year in 2013. They were both preoccupied living their best lives on campus (Scott, a Management major, a member of the Men's Tennis Team and SigEp fraternity; Meredith, an IR and Spanish double major and a member of ADPi sorority), and off-campus (Scott participated in Boston University's study abroad program in London during fall semester 2012, Meredith studied in Granada through Bucknell en Espana during spring semester 2013). When they reconnected at a party on St. Catherine's Street in November 2013, it all felt so familiar. They both recounted the memories of their meeting and have been together ever since. After their graduation on May 14, 2014, they moved to New York City to pursue careers in finance and tech. They got married exactly 8 years later, on May 14, 2022, in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The Bernsteins still reside in New York City and are so appreciative of Bucknell for helping them find each other! 'Ray Bucknell!
John Regan '12 & Yanjka (Jugdersuren) Regan '14 
On a causal Saturday afternoon, one of John’s friends mentioned that he was attending a birthday party later that night. Without any idea of what fate had in store, John quickly agreed to join the party without an invitation.
It happened to be Yanjka's birthday party at a friend's Gateway. John and Yanjka shared a moment that night. John mentioned that he was the captain of the wrestling team, and it turns out that, in Yanjka’s native country, Mongolia, wrestling is a highly regarded sport. It’s part of a centuries-old tradition on Naadam, the annual festival that celebrates the birth of Mongolia. She explained that the sport ran deep in her family’s lifeblood – that both her grandfather and brother had wrestled as well. Soon after, they went on their first date at the Smiling Chameleon downtown.
As John approached the end of his college career, he began applying for work in New York City. Yanjka still had two years to finish and would soon begin traveling the globe through the University’s study abroad program, so they would be “geographically challenged.” Over the next few years, while in NYC, John would regularly receive texts from the wrestlers still on campus letting him know they had spotted“Regan’s girl.”
Two years later, as her college years were coming to an end, Yanjka began a job search that would eventually relocate her to NYC. Living much closer to one another now, that initial flame propelled them to a new place. After living together for a few months and taking in NYC to the fullest (with the occasional five a.m. night outs), the two realized that their lives were much better together. On December 9, 2015, John proposed to Yanjka by the Madison Square Park Christmas Tree where they shared their first kiss in NYC. 
On August 11, 2018, they tied the knot in New Jersey surrounded by family and friends whom they met in NYC and at Bucknell. The following year in 2019, they also got married in Mongolia surrounded by Yanjka's extended family (wearing Mongolian costumes, as shown in the picture). On November 9th last fall, they welcomed their first bundle of joy, a baby girl, Arya Regan. All thanks to Bucknell, it has been a dream for John and Yanjka to be able to grow together, while building careers and friendships in NYC.
Sarah Bunker '12 & Steve Willow '13
Sarah and Steve had similar friend groups at Bucknell but didn't actually meet until Homecoming 2013, and the rest is history! They’ve lived together in the DC area for 7 years and have a fur baby named Lucas. Steve proposed to Sarah in April 2021 on a trip to see Bucknell friends in Charleston, SC. They got married in a different L’burg (Leesburg, Virginia) on July 30th 2022 with four Bucknellians in the wedding party, one as an honorary officiant and many more in attendance. They'll be celebrating 10 years together this October!
Jin On '12 & Yann Wester '12
We first met at a Draft a Date Chi Phi Party and rekindled at a fellow Bucknell wedding years later. Yann and I got married June 2022 and are excited to celebrate this June with plenty of Bucknellians in attendance. We wouldn't be where we are today without our Bucknell connection.
Maralyn (Murphy) Ortlieb '54 & Joe Ortlieb '52
This tribute to Bucknell in Love comes to us from the granddaughter of Maralyn (Murphy) Ortlieb ‘54  and Joe Ortlieb '52, who many believe was the first Bucky the Bison. Kate ‘19 grew up hearing her grandparents' age-old love story of fate, instant connection and the rest being history. The love of Bucknell definitely runs in their family; two of their five children are Bucknellians, as is granddaughter Kate. Until their passing they both stayed involved with Bucknell and their community.
Dana DelGaldo '09
This is the love story of 13 friends who met at Bucknell, fell in love with each other, and have continued to love one another through all of life’s ups and downs. We all met separately during our first year and came together as one group in the Mods (Mod14 to be exact). I can’t imagine life without them and I’m thankful everyday that Bucknell brought us all together.
Todd Warmington ‘03 and Katie (Jordan) Warmington ‘04
Todd and Katie met under the most unpredictable circumstances: star football captain and angry, disgruntled cheerleader. Although Katie was more interested in skinny musicians, her roommate and fellow cheerleader, Rachel, often invited her to football parties. When Katie’s roommate turned down Todd’s invitation to the FIJI formal. She found him  attractive and decided to give it a shot. Her first attempts to flirt weren’t always successful but he eventually gave in, and love prevailed. They now are married with two beautiful boys, who hopefully learned how to seize the opportunity when it comes around.
Carol (Noel) Michaels ‘02 and Tom Michaels ‘02
Although Tom and I lived near one another for our first two years at Bucknell we didn’t cross paths.We were aware of each other but never “officially” met until a friend introduced us at a party during our junior year, and we started chatting long hours on AOL Instant Messenger (LOL) and then dating shortly after. I knew he was the one for me! We stayed together through separate graduate school programs in North Carolina and post grad internships in DC. We married in 2005 and now have two wonderful daughters whom we took to visit campus for the first time in 2022. We enjoy keeping in touch with alumni friends (many who are also Bucknell couples) as much as we can. It’s a special bond to share the Bucknell experience.
Luke Joyner '12 & Chris (Smillie) Joyner '12 
Chris and Luke met in their freshman biology lab as part of the same lab group. Chris was an Animal Behavior major, and biology was one of her stronger subjects. Luke...not so much. Luckily, Chris found him charming and handsome and gladly contributed much more than her fair share of their group project so she'd get more chances to talk to him. It took a while for Luke to pick up on Chris's not-so-subtle signals that she was interested, but they started dating in February of their sophomore year — and are now coming up on their 12 year dating anniversary! Since then they have new, more important anniversaries to celebrate — their wedding in 2016, and the birth of their son, Graham, on June 24th, 2021. They are looking forward to coming back as Bucknell parents one day, and attending Graham's a cappella concerts and/or soccer games - just like his Mom and Dad!
Mike Conlon '75 & Debbie Halahan Conlon '76
It was September of 1972 when I first saw Michael outside of the bookstore with a group of mutual friends. We started dating about two years later and got engaged before he graduated. We married in August 1977, and the wedding party was full of Bucknellians: Trish Halahan Froehlich '72, Sara St. John Chase '76, Kim Feier Saphire '76, Felicia Spencer Sartell '76, Judy Brewin Bachant '76, Brian Wells '75, Pete Oliver '75, Steve Wheeler '75 and Jim Albert '75. This summer will make 45 years of marriage — 50 years of friendship!
Emily Wenzel '16 & Tyler Wenzel '16
Tyler and I met our first year at Bucknell as we were both members of the swimming and diving team. We started dating our junior year at Bucknell and the rest is history. We were supposed to get married at Bucknell in Rooke Chapel in June 2020 but COVID had other plans. We eloped instead and deferred the celebration to July 2021 when we finally got to have our Bucknell wedding. We are also expecting our first baby bison in March 💙🧡
Trevor Reitz '07 & Katie (Howard) Reitz '07
We met on our first-year hall, Swartz Rainey 3, and were two rooms apart. The first time we met, Katie and her roommate had gone through the hall after color wars, offering to wash everyone’s clothes covered in paint. Trevor was sitting on a bed playing guitar and it was love at first sight! However, our RA told us no one was allowed to date (good thing we’re still friends with her to this day!) so we were good friends throughout our first year and finally started dating sophomore year. Our first date was the Theta bowling date party. Trevor was in Phi Psi and we spent many fun days at parties and formals together and he gave Katie a lavalier in junior year. After we graduated, Trevor moved to N.J. from Syracuse and we were married in 2010. We now have 4 kids and a dog and life is wild, unpredictable and happy. We had the most amazing years at Bucknell and are so lucky to say that some of our friends from Rainey 3, Theta, PKP and others are still our best friends. To those incoming students: you never know. The love of your life could be just two doors away 🥰
Jillian (Crooks) Ritz '17 & William Ritz '15

Will and I met at a downtown party in March 2015, just two months before his graduation. A whirlwind of 7th Street Café smoothies and Lewisburg Freez dates became the foundation of our Bucknell love story. We were married in July 2021 atop Killington Peak in Vermont, surrounded by dozens of Bucknellians.
Susan Styer Dautel '73 & Bill Hamilton '73
During our student years on campus, we didn’t meet—it took 45 years for the Bucknell magic to work! In June 2018, two members of the class of 1973 met for the first time at their 45th reunion. We have been enjoying life, family, travels, Bucknell sports and friends together ever since.  ‘ray Bucknell!
Mandy Hart ‘07 & Mark Caroleo ‘07
Valentine’s Day is our favorite holiday. 18 years ago, we moved into Swartz Hall (Malcolm 4) across the hall from each other. We became close friends quickly and by Valentine’s Day of our first year we treated ourselves to a fancy dinner at Elizabeth’s. It became a tradition for us, and we’ve spent Valentine’s Day together for the past 17 years. But Bucknell in Love is more than the soulmates that end up with beautiful weddings and families. It’s the hugs in the Caf, coffee breaks at Bertrand when you’re sure you’ll fail your exam, the soft rap on your dorm room door in the middle of the night because the other needs help picking next semester's classes. It’s coming out after graduation, even when you’re sure that no one will accept you, and always being there even after everyone else has gone home. We been there through each other’s tragedies, and we’ve stood next to each other through our milestones. We are the best of what #BucknellinLove can be: best friends who will love each other forever.
James McGinnis '17 & Madeline Milligan McGinnis '17
We initially met our first year while both living in Smith Hall, but it wasn’t until we both stayed on campus the summer after sophomore year for research that we became more than friends, spending our days floating down the Susquehanna River and heading to the Freez. After graduation we moved to Dallas, Texas to complete our PhDs in Biochemistry. We got married in July 2021 on Lake Tahoe with five Bucknellians in our wedding party, and many more in attendance. At 5:32 p.m. during the reception, the Alma Mater played, just like everyday at Rooke Chapel.



Tracey (Trusk) Eick ‘83 & Jim Eick ‘82
The third time was a charm! It took a couple requests during the fall of 1981, but Jim finally agreed to walk me home from a DU party during Parents Weekend and the rest is history. We got engaged in April 1983 and were married in my hometown of Glastonbury, Conn. on August 18, 1984. After 40 years together, we are the delighted grandparents of three adorable girls and expecting another grandbaby this fall!
Andrew Spina '16 & Sarah (Johnson) Spina '16
We both switched into an 8 a.m. intro to economics class our frist year at Bucknell. Though we recognized each other from class, we didn’t actually start talking until the end of our freshman year when a mutual friend introduced us further. We officially started dating our sophomore year at Bucknell. After graduating, Andrew joined the Army and Sarah went to physical therapy school, where they did long-distance for three years. They now live in Savannah, Ga. Andrew proposed in June 2020, and they were married in September 2021 with 40 other Bucknellians in attendance!
Donald Knight '63 & Anita (Spielberger) Knight '64
We met junior/sophomore year (1962) riding with a mutual friend on a round-trip home to NY for a break. Don missed his regular ride due to a class conflict, so he joined Anita’s carpool. We teased each other and had a mutual attraction. Shortly afterwards, Don invited Anita to a DU party. A year later we were pinned, and we were married after Anita graduated in 1964. Here’s a toast to almost 58 years of marriage, living in CT, MI, SC, IL, and now TX!
Mike Anderson ‘13 & Kaitlyn Smith Anderson ‘12
We met briefly a few different times during our first three years. Mike was an engineering major and was friends with two of my roommates who were also engineering majors. We never really spoke until our first night back to campus in August 2011 to start senior year. We danced all night at a downtown Phi Psi house. Late that night we called Domino’s, but they were closed. We saw a Domino’s delivery guy making his last delivery, followed him to a house on 6th street, and negotiated our way inside for some pizza.

We lived in neighboring houses on St. Catherine and 6th Street that year and had the best time, including many Kappa and Phi Psi date parties (and MANY more Domino’s deliveries…we even served it late night at our wedding). Mike stayed for a 5th year, and I visited Lewisburg often. We’ve lived in CT since he graduated. We’ve been together for 10, married for 5, and now have two girls under 4! We hope one of our kids will go to Bucknell so we can visit for those fun parents weekend parties.
Caroline Higgins Nicholson ‘14 & Mike Nicholson ‘14
Mike and I technically met on our swimming recruiting trip to Bucknell in 2009. We were friends throughout college, but didn’t start dating until right after graduation. Eight years later, we got married on the Jersey Shore with 30+ Bucknellians in attendance.
Matt Anderson '14 & Amari Anderson '15
We met on the 2012 BACES trip to the Dominican Republic and were married this summer in Amari's parents' backyard. We were surrounded by their closest friends, including their best man Tom Hackett '14. We will celebrate our 6 month anniversary this Valentine's Day.
Jeff Gronbeck ‘92 & Kelly (Marsh) Gronbeck ‘91
Jeff was in Lambda Chi and Kelly was on the Cross Country team during their time at Bucknell. They met during a fraternity event in 1990 and were married in Rooke Chapel  in 1993, On their 24th wedding anniversary, they dropped their daughter, Lauren ‘20, off for her first year at Bucknell. Lauren also competed on the Cross Country team while at Bucknell.
Kat (Gaydosh) Kramer ‘93 & Michael Kramer ‘94:
Kat was a Russian studies and international relations major and Michael was an English major, both from Philadelphia. Now happily married, Kat, Michael and their son live in the Philly suburbs. Kat is a sales and marketing for professional Urban One Inc. and Michael finds great joy in helping people through his work at AAA. Kat was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and is now “free of disease” and doing TV, radio and print commercials for Fox Chase Cancer Center where she received life-saving treatment. They are thrilled that their son, Alex, is considering becoming a future Bucknell engineer in the Class of 2028!
Andy Yost ‘87 & Cali (Williams) Yost ‘87

Cali was in Kappa Kappa Gamma and Andy was in Chi Phi, and they met during the last six weeks of their senior year. Cali and a friend, Margaret (Mistretta) Dempsey ‘87, were in search of formals dates and Margaret suggested that Cali invite Andy. What was supposed to simply be a casual date is now in its 35th year (married for 32 years). The love of Bucknell definitely runs in their family — Cali is the daughter of Doug Williams ‘63 and Margaret (Hill) Williams ‘63, and she and Andy are the proud parents of Emma Yost ‘20.
John McFadden ‘70 & Susan Hamilton ‘70
We met at a seance in October 1968, during Colloquy weekend. It was held in the basement of a religion professor’s home and Mel Hill’s (1970) grandmother was the medium. We looked at each other across the room and got up to chat on the basement steps. We were married by Jim Hammerlee at Rooke Chapel on Jan. 3, 1970. We have two children, two grandchildren and while we never attended another seance, we’ve enjoyed 52+ years of a “magical, mystery tour.”
George Trenchard '89 & Terri (Shearer) Trenchard '89

Terri and I started dating during the Spring semester of our Junior year while studying abroad together in the first year of the Bucknell en France program. Falling in love while in France was a special experience. We returned to France 6 years later and got engaged while on that trip. It was a joy to celebrate our 25th anniversary last year!
Monique (Boley) '05 & Richard Alexander, Jr. '03
We met in 2001 as teammates on the track and field team. We married in 2007, moved back to Lewisburg where Richard works as a coach in Bucknell Athletics. We have two Junior Bison, Richard, III (11) and Ruby (7). Go Bison!
Joyce Mederios '14 & Mo Karam '13
Joyce and Mo first met at Bucknell, when she had to ask the Appropriations Committee for funding towards a service project (Mo was in BSG). They didn't meet again until they both had graduated and were living in NYC. After five years of dating and traveling around the world together, Mo proposed on January 30, 2021. The wedding date hasn't been set yet, but it'll definitely be a multi city/country celebration!
Fabia Harris Mahoney '69 & John Mahoney '69
We met when Fabia was editor in chief of The Bucknellian and John was leading the anti-war movement on campus. We were married in Rooke Chapel by Chaplain Buckey on Dec. 21, 1968, and recently celebrated our 53rd  anniversary. We have four children and six grandchildren--two more than last Valentine's Day! This photo was taken at a family wedding in 2019.  We have very fond memories of Bucknell!
Leslie Markevitch ’18 & Erkin Sabah '18
My husband and I are both Bucknell alumni from the class of 2018. His name is Erkin Sabah and he was an international student from Turkey. We met our freshman year at Bucknell and were good friends for almost 6 years before dating. When I was teaching in Latvia under a Fulbright, Erkin invited me to visit him and his family in his home city of Istanbul, Turkey. It was during that trip that we realized we had feelings for each other and started dating. On October 1st 2020 we eloped in Brooklyn and our four Bucknellian best friends were our witnesses!