Marquette University Love Stories 2022

Stories of relationships found through Marquette 💌

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re bringing light to love stories with a special Marquette connection.

Enrique was the cute RA on the floor above mine my freshman year. That summer we started dating and have had nothing but fun ever since. We made it official and got married in October 2021! Forever thankful Marquette University brought us together!

“People who are meant to be will find their way back to each other.” This quote describes the blessing of two friends reuniting after decades of taking separate life, family and career paths since first meeting via mutual circles of friendships during our undergraduate days at Marquette University. Social media provided the vehicle for starting a tradition of our group of classmates to gather annually for National Marquette Day since 2014. Sparks were ignited in 2017 between us and on New Years Eve 2020 we were engaged. We are excited to announce our wedding to take place July 2022 with plenty of MU alumni in attendance!

Kristina and John met sophomore year, 2000, while working at Carpenter Tower Hall, but it would be a year later before Kristina would stop confusing John with another Tower Hall RA and actually remember his name. While working as a DR at Straz Tower, Kristina noted that John made a surprising number of early morning trips by the front desk when she was working. Finally, with the help of their roommates, John asked out Kristina and they had their first date at County Clare. What followed was a courtship filled with Friday nights studying at the Engineering Pit, Saturdays watching Marquette basketball, and an intensive course in learning to live for one another. They married in spring 2008 and made their home in the Milwaukee area. Their children, Jackson (11), Anna (8), and Lucy (4), each have piggy banks where they save their pennies for future Marquette tuition.  John works for a consulting firm owned by a proud “jumping” Marquette alum, and Kristina owns a furniture upholstery business.

We met through mutual friends during our sophomore year at Marquette. At the time, we both lived in Humphrey Hall, had several business classes together, and ran in the same circle of friends. As time went on, we became best friends and the rest is history!

We met through mutual friends and began dating in the fall of 1990.  We have now been married 26 years and our children are current undergrads at Marquette, Amanda Edu ’22 and Luke Eng ’25.  Our nephew and niece are also current students, Shane Kruse Arts ’25 and Jolan Kruse ’22.

Funny, Nia and I grew up near each other being from Chicago and our high schools were less than a mile apart. However we didn’t meet until moving out of the dorms in 2013. She was working at the front desk of 2040s and she gave me the keys on my move in day. From the first look at her I was in love. Over the course of that summer we developed a friendly relationship. Our love took full bloom the spring of 2014 when we began dating and in 2020 we got married.

Chris and I met our senior year at Marquette University through a mutual friend. This lead to many dates downtown in the city of Milwaukee. After countless dates, a span of living in two separate states, moving our wedding once due to Covid and surviving three years of medical school together we got married last July in the city where it all began Milwaukee!

We met each other during noon mass at Joan of Arc Chapel. Luke held the door open for me on my way into church. As the church became more and more crowded, we ended up sitting next to each other. After mass, Luke asked if I wanted to grab coffee with him. We hit it off, all thanks to Joan of Arc! We got married July 2021 in Milwaukee! Both of our parents met their spouses during their time at Marquette as well! We are one BIG Marquette family!

We met on Valentine’s Day during our freshman year. I had class with Julia’s roommate at the time and she introduced herself to me. We hung out casually a few times, but her roommate convinced her I wasn’t into her. Meanwhile, I was telling anyone and everyone who would listen that I had a crush on this girl. I asked her on an official first date and took her to Sobelman’s. We went on to date for 6 years and even shared MUBB season tickets. We are happily married as of this past December. We Are Marquette!

My amazing wife and I met 3 weeks into our freshman year on the Students Taking Active Roles (STAR) retreat. We started dating a week later and have been inseparable ever since. We were married at Gesu in 2013 and now have 2 wonderful kiddos who help us cheer on the Golden Eagles whenever a game is on TV.

We met Freshman year and became friends. We were one floor apart in Schroeder and then went to Campus town. It took until senior for him to ask me out to dinner! We had a great night by the lakefront and sipped coffee on the Eastside. We loved our time in Milwaukee as we got to explore the museums, the lake, and neighborhoods. We married in 1999 (definitely partied like it was 1999 😂) and will have been married for 23 years this coming May.

Ashley and I met at the Freshman Square Dance in 2013 where we bonded over our shared home state of Minnesota. We went on our first date the next fall and quickly fell in love during our sophomore year. Fast forward to 2022, where after more than four years of long-distance, we bought a beautiful home in Minneapolis, as we prepare for our wedding this summer. It’s been a wonderful, wild journey since we met almost nine years ago. We are forever grateful Marquette brought us – and so many other wonderful people – together.

My mom and dad met on Marquette’s campus in the 60s in the Alumni Memorial Union. Mom was a Marcadette and Dad was in the Army ROTC and Pershing Rifles. Despite a rocky first date and a seven-month cooling-off period, they began dating again. After two kids, five grandkids, six cities, and a tour in Viet Nam for my dad, the rest is history. In 2017, they renewed their vows for their 50th anniversary at Joan of Arc chapel, with their MU friends and my sister and I (both MU grads) there.

We met on the first day of school freshman year but didn’t date until I was a junior and he had just graduated. I always remembered him as a guy I’d always bump into on campus, but little did I know he was intentionally crossing the street for a chance to say hello all those years. We ended up running into each other at the rec center. I had just ended a relationship and apparently, I asked Andy out. Which I deny. 20 years of marriage celebrated and more great chapters to write of our love story.

Liz met Jake on a summer night on the east side of Milwaukee thanks to great mutual Marquette friends.  They were introduced, made small talk, and quickly realized their mutual love for the Midwest, outdoor activities, and music. The couple married on October 9, 2021, in Milwaukee with more than 15 Marquette alumni in attendance.

Gregory and Stephanie met over ten years ago in the Liturgical choir at Marquette University. Soon after, Gregory tutored Stephanie in chemistry, where they shared a special bond together. At Marquette University, they spent many late nights in the library, trained for marathons, danced at Alpha Xi Delta sorority events, and celebrated their achievements. For several years, Stephanie and Greg lived in different states. Stephanie’s career brought her to Arizona where she currently practices Physical Therapy. Greg continued his Ph.D. education at Loyola University Chicago.  Today, they both live in Phoenix, AZ and they were blessed to be married in the Catholic Church surrounded by family and friends last summer.

Mike had recently graduated from Marquette in May ‘91 but was still living in MKE near campus, working while sending resumes conducting a job search. After shooting pool at the student union one day with his two MU buddies (Bob Naber/John Dalton), Mike decided he would head back to Toledo for Thanksgiving which was approaching, and grabbed a few numbers off the ride board postings to share gas costs. No success with the first two, who already had rides by that time. However, the third call resulted in a “yes.”

Sharing music, stories and laughs for 6 1/2 hours, both ways to and from MKE/Ohio, that “yes” eventually turned into an even happier “yes!” almost a year later when Mike and “G” got engaged in September 1992! Two diplomas, four children, and almost 3 decades later… still going strong thanks to MU! #WeAre!!

We both lived in Abbottsford Hall Freshman year, one floor apart, and never crossed paths. We officially met and started dating our sophomore year. In 2019, we both graduated and stayed in Milwaukee together. Fast forward to December of 2021, we got married! We will soon be moving across the country to California, but will continue to cheer on MUBB for every game!

Tyler and I met thanks to my roommate and best friend (shout out to Carly Condon!) who was on the track team with Tyler. We kept “meeting” coincidentally on campus, thanks again to Carly, and our relationship finally happened. We’ve been together now for 11 years. And almost 6 years ago we got married at Gesu surrounded by our Marquette family. Our little family has grown to include 2 sweet and crazy little boys who love Iggy the Eagle!

We met in S.T.A.R. freshman year and reconnected at a sorority/fraternity event our sophomore year.  After that, we kept talking and making bets with one another which turned into long walks exploring MKE. The rest is history! He proposed in July 2019 & we got married in June 2021 once Kathryn finished her MSN through Marquette! Go Golden Eagles!

We disagree on how we met- Tim thinks we met the night after finals in December but we had chem 2 together and I had my eye on him all semester. He lived on the same floor as my friends in Schroeder so I would ask him chem-related questions. We studied together a lot during the second semester of sophomore year until he finally asked me to be his girlfriend on the bench in front of Joan of Arc Chapel in April of 2014. The same spot he asked me to marry him almost exactly 7 years later. We’re getting married this July!

Spring semester 1990 I had this witty, good-looking, really smart TA for Fr. Donnelly’s Western Civ class. I found out he liked to study at Brooks Memorial Union. One night after finishing my shift I wandered by where he studied and acted surprised to see him. Sat down, we talked, and he ended up walking me home to O’Donnell Hall, then an all-girls dorm. Within a few weeks I had switched TA sections so we could go on a date. Fr. Donnelly and Fr. Leahy co-officiated our wedding a year and a half later. We’ve been married 30 years. Thank you, Marquette.

I met my husband, Mark, during our freshman year at CLR (Christian Leadership Retreat). We reconnected senior year after discovering that my new Campus Town East apartment was just 2 doors down from Mark! We bonded over community service, attending Mass at Gesu and St. Joan of Arc, cheering at MU basketball games, and eating countless Schroeder dinners. Movie lawn screenings outside Lalumiere, dancing at Snowball, sunrise bike rides to Lake Michigan and midnight walks around campus (with McCormick ice cream cones in tow) made for some great memories! We have been together ever since: engaged in 2015, married at Gesu in July 2016, and then we took our MU pride with us to Iceland for our honeymoon! Mark and I are proud parents of future Golden Eagles: Julia (4), Holly (2), and Erin (7 months). Mark continues to make my heart flutter every day and I am so thankful Marquette helped bring us together! 🙂 We continue to happily cheer on Marquette sports from our home in St. Louis! Ring out Ahoya!

We met working adjacent shifts at the Brooks Lounge in 2012. We started dating in 2013 and were engaged in 2015. We were married 10.15.16, surrounded by multiple generations of MU alumni. We currently live in Racine with two beautiful sons.

We met in September at a floor party in 1984.  We dated throughout the 4 years but took a break after graduation. We were both from MA so kept in touch. We reconnected in 1992, married in 1994 and our time together only gets better.

In 1997 I was a freshman looking for on-campus groups to get involved with. There was a group that was doing a pie-in-the-face fundraiser for Alzheimer’s research. I met this fellow checking in volunteers and I thought “He’s pretty cute.” We started talking and as luck would have it, we were both from Michigan – 90 minutes apart from one another. We talked about a lot – bands we liked, Big 10 football, and being out of state. I remember going back to McCormick and telling one of the women on our floor “I met this boy and I am going to marry him.” (She would also be the maid of honor at our wedding in 2004)

Our first date was an MU basketball game – Notre Dame vs Marquette followed by dinner at Real Chili.

We will celebrate 25 years of our relationship in 2022. Marquette has given us precious memories, but the best thing we’ve received (besides the education) is each other.

We were both in Army ROTC starting Freshman year but didn’t start dating until the fall of Sophomore year. With a little matchmaking help from Megan (Mangan) Miranda A&S ’97 and a date that lasted late walking down to the lake and back the night before we did Al’s Run, our lasting relationship kicked off! We got engaged our senior year,  the week after the Army vs Navy Commander’s Cup Flag Football game where Brian sustained a concussion (some say he got some sense knocked into his head) and got married in June 1997. We are still going strong in spite of multiple military moves and deployments and three amazing kids. Choosing MU was the precursor to making it all happen. For our 20th Anniversary, we chose to go to Milwaukee and MU where it all began. We hit all our favorite places and walked from campus down to the lake (attached picture at the marina). We could not be more thankful and blessed! Here’s to 25 years of our MU romance!

Boy on his scooter, giving girls rides to class, hmm, who is that guy…Married him!

We met at McCormick Labor Day weekend of our freshman year. I lived on the 2nd floor and he lived on the 7th floor. Some of our best friends are those we met at McCormick that year, it holds such a special place in our hearts. We “officially” started dating a few weeks after we first met and have been together ever since. We got married on November 14th, 2020, it was the best day ever! We are so blessed that Marquette brought us together.

Freshmen year of college, I was running down a hallway in Straz Tower.  I was not looking where I was going when I ran into the woman who would end up being my wife.  I knocked her down, helped her back up, and introduced myself.  We’ve been together 10 years.

We dated in college, 1995-1997.  Life took us on different journeys and we lost touch. We live in different states but were able to reconnect through social media. Twenty-five years later we began a friendship that led to a spur-of-the-moment trip to visit each other. From that point, on we knew the feelings we once had for each other at Marquette were still there.  From that moment, it seemed as if twenty-five years faded away and we were back on campus.

It’s crazy to think, but twenty-five years later we are dating again and have made several visits back to campus to see where this all began.  It seems those journeys we took have led us right back to where it all started, with each other and Marquette University.

We met through Delta Sigma Pi.  This picture is from our first date at the Founder’s Day Dance in November 1989.  We married in July 1992 and 4 kids later (including one at Marquette) we are still going strong!

We met 10 years ago in our Dystopian Literature course. Because of our seating arrangement, we were placed in the same discussion group. A few months into the semester we started walking with each other to our next classes to continue our discussions. We moved together to Madison, then the Netherlands, and back to Madison. We got married in October of 2019.

The story of how we met sounds like something straight out of a rom-com! Blake and I met each other in the laundry room of Straz Hall. He asked me how my day was going as we both stood outside of the elevators after starting our loads of laundry, and then I saw him a second time when I went to switch my laundry over to the dryer. On the third trip down to get my laundry, he wasn’t there! I saw him around campus and smiled and waved at him until he asked me for my name and my number. We dated each other for 6 years after that day and were married this year in August at Gesu (just a block away from where we met!). So many great things came out of our Marquette experiences, but finding each other was probably the best thing of them all!

We had the same friends for years and were always friendly, but the one summer we both stayed at school and got campus jobs really brought us closer together. We started dating that same summer and have been together ever since, all thanks to a block party at 17th & Kilbourn. 8 years later and we just got married this past fall.

I grew up on too many Disney movies and had come to believe in love at first sight.  So while I had dated it never really felt right as it had not been love at first sight.  In the summer of 1999, my cousin was getting married and as I was driving home to Minnesota my car broke down outside of Madison.  The repair was going to take a couple of days and when I rented the car I was told “unlimited mileage” doesn’t mean driving to Minnesota, so I headed back to Marquette.  That evening I met up with some friends at a party and I still remember seeing Stacey for the first time.  It was love at first sight.  I introduced myself, and we hit it off instantaneously, so much so that I decided to tell her that when I saw her I knew I was going to marry her.  Apparently, that isn’t a great thing to say the first time you meet a woman, it tends to freak them out.  But 23 years and 2 wonderful daughters later our Marquette fairy tale lives on.

We met after a mutual friend invited Tricia to attend Michael’s 21st birthday party! We then found our paths crossing and started dating shortly after Michael graduated

Katie and I met while playing for the Marquette women’s rugby team. She was one of the captains of the team when I joined as a freshman. We have been together now for nearly 10 years and married for 4. Thank you, Marquette (and rugby) for bringing us together <3

We both vividly remember president Lovell saying that most people meet their future husband or wife at MU. After a year of being at MU, fate would have it that we met- President Lovell was 100% right.

We met while working at the Marquette Child Care Center and fell in love. Cassie knew he’d be a great father after watching him teach and play baseball to the 4K class. We took the 3 and 4-year-old classes all over the campus, to the Milwaukee Museum, to the lakefront, to playgrounds, and enjoyed every minute together. It was a fun job to have on campus and we had the extra bonus of finding each other….now we’ve been married for 15 years and have five kids.

Somehow, despite being friends with each other’s roommates throughout college, Ben and I did not meet until the fall of senior year (2017). We met at a night out with friends; both of us nearly did not go but our friends convinced us to stay up past our typical 9 pm bedtime. We have been best friends in life ever since. We got engaged in 2018 and married in 2020 in front of many of our Marquette friends. We love to hike, camp and travel. Most of all, we still love to go to bed at 9 pm.

Adam and I met our freshman year (2017) at Marquette in Spring semester Biology class as that was his first semester of college after he was honorably discharged from the US Navy. We “officially” started dating that summer before sophomore year, and got engaged the summer after our graduation (2020)! We recently got married this past July 17, 2021, and we are beyond blessed that our paths have crossed at Marquette!

Erin and Andrew met while in the Les Aspin program in the summer of 2009. Both were good friends at the time, working on the Hill in Washington, DC. Fast forward 5 years later, in May 2014, the two reconnected in Chicago, IL, and started dating. Andrew proposed on May 22, 2019, in his apartment and Erin cried many tears of joy. After postponing their original 2020 wedding date due to Covid, they finally tied the knot at Old St. Pat’s in Chicago on May 22, 2021, surrounded by many family and friends. They currently live in Chicago, but spend a lot of their time in Orange County as well, where Andrew is from.

We met working at Brooks Lounge together. We soon started dating in the middle of our junior year. We got married 10/15/16 and now live in Racine Wisconsin with our two boys.

Junior year in college, our roommate studying Dental Hygiene said there was a cute group of freshmen dental students. There were five of us living in the Renee Row Apartments and we invited the group over to our apartment. Three of us ended up marrying some of the boys from the group – all still happily married 20+ years later. We’ve attended MU games each year following, our children know each other, everyone has kept in touch, and are still a core group of friends. The craziest part of the story is that I actually saw my husband while I was a rising high school senior touring colleges. He was the cute boy I sat next to at the University of Dayton Biology 101 on a Monday morning at 9 am. I ended up at Marquette and met him again as a college junior and he was a dental school freshman. Had I gone to Dayton, we might not have ever met – my husband transferred to John Carroll as an undergraduate. We will be celebrating 22 years of marriage this summer.

We met through a mutual friend our senior year at Marquette. 5 years later, we got married in Milwaukee at the Pfister hotel. We were supposed to be married in Gesu but Covid changed that. At our wedding reception, we took a Marquette Alumni photo that had 3 generations worth of Alumni from my wife’s grandfather, to my wife’s parents and many aunts/uncles, to my wife and I and all of our friends.

Chris and I met in 1999 when I was a freshman and Chris was a junior. We were both from Kansas City and had mutual friends, but had never met before. We started dating a while later, when Chris was graduating in 2002 he decided to accept a job in Kansas City, knowing that’s where he and Jessie would live amongst their families in the future. We were married in 2006 and now have 6 children. One 13-year-old girl, followed by 5 boys ages 12, 9, 8, 6, and the youngest is 3. Chris has had a successful career in Engineering and is now a Vice President at the firm he accepted a job with after graduation. I have been in the recruiting field my entire career and recently sold my recruiting firm, so I can run our busy household. We loved our time at Marquette and are grateful for the many friends and memories during that time. But most of all, we know God had a plan to help two KC kids meet and find love in Milwaukee!

We met at the Helfaer Rec Center playing club volleyball. Thomas was helping with the Women’s team practice and we had an instant connection as friends that grew over time into a relationship. We started dating in 2017 and got married in May 2021! We are so grateful that Marquette brought us into each other’s lives and, of course, the Helfaer too!

Oli and I met through serving as student leaders on CRU campus ministry. We were close friends for a year (during this time I was an RA in Schroeder while Oli lived there as a resident LOL). We started dating the summer of 2020 #covidgrad when I moved to Oklahoma to get my master’s in Speech Pathology. We dated long distance for a year, became best friends, fell in love, and got engaged on our anniversary! We are getting married this May 2022 and can’t wait to call Milwaukee home together 🙂

I first met Grace at a BSO cultural meeting (shoutout Bayanihan!!) and we hit it off from there. Our first time hanging out alone was at a St Joan of Arc Chapel mass because it gave me the opportunity to hold her hand and hug her during the mass lol. Ever since then our friendship grew into a relationship and we have been dating for more than 4 years now. My future with her is to become business partners and hopefully start our own PT clinic in the future!

We met playing basketball at Straz. Andy had already graduated but routinely came back to play with friends. Alli played with her friend Stephanie multiple times a week. We played pick-up games with our friends from 2006 to 2008 before we started dating. Our first dates were at Jimmy Johns and Caffrey’s on campus. We played pop-a-shot and had an amazing time. Love was fast and wonderful! After our first date in the fall of 2008, we were engaged by summer 2009. We married in 2010 and have two little girls who love singing “Gooooo! Goooo! Go, Marquette! Go! Go! Go! Go!” They are in the photo above.

My fiance and I met our sophomore year at MU in an anatomy lecture, and I was a DR at his dorm! We got engaged in July 2021 and are getting married this October 2022 ❤️

We met during freshmen orientation in 2014 and never looked back! We got married at Gesu in May of 2021 and are now happily adventuring together in Alaska.

Caleb and Allison met in McCabe hall in 2014 through mutual friends. They started dating on Valentine’s Day and have been together ever since. Caleb and Allison were married in November 2020 and recently welcomed a son, Parker Gavin Blackmur!