As we prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day this month, it’s a great time to remember that Penn State has a way of bringing people together, often for life. From first dates downtown to saying “I do” in blue and white, these alumni love stories show how all roads lead back to Penn State! 

“We met the old-fashioned way—through a mutual friend…outside the McDonald’s on College Ave in 1995. He had the cutest dimples (still does), and that was basically a wrap. I lived in Hibbs, and he lived in West. He was born in Jamaica, I was born in the Dominican Republic, and we were both raised in NYC—only 20 minutes apart back home, yet somehow it took Penn State to bring us together.

We met in September 1995, and by September 1996, he proposed… in my dorm (romantic and budget-friendly). We got married on September 14, 2002—yes, during a Penn State home game (unranked PSU vs. #8 Nebraska)… and YES, we won! Clearly a good omen. Our love story has always included Penn State. We’ve never let a year go by without visiting our beloved campus. And now, 31 years later, we’re back with a senior at University Park.”
– Dania Gil-Langley ’96

“Met my husband the night I moved in freshman year 2016, this year we celebrate 10 years together & four years married with two baby girls! We used our favorite Penn State locations as our table markers at our wedding, which my BFA roommate sketched.”
– Bailey Senerchia ’20

“May 1, 2026, will be our 55th anniversary. We met in the HUB in November 1969. I was a junior, he was a senior, and he had the only table with open seats. My sorority sister, Jan Reedman Millen, knew him and said we could sit with Ed, but did not introduce me as they chatted away. Eventually, he commented that his fraternity was having a social with ADPi on Friday night and that if I wasn’t “attached,” maybe I would like to stay for the party afterward. I said yes, but as social chairman, I would be in the last car that the guys sent to shuttle us from the dorm. He said he was the house social chair, too. When I got there, the guy on door duty said with a big smile that I was the last to arrive and that he was delighted to escort me to dinner. I explained I was meeting the social chairman I met in the HUB on Tuesday, only to find he had not waited for me and was with a blonde in the first car. But here we are, almost 55 years later, and the young guy at the door? One of the ushers at our wedding. Both of us have devoted five decades to PSU, as Greater Cleveland PSAA chapter leaders, AAC volunteers, Multiple terms on Alumni Council, Ed on Smeal Alumni Board, and as a student mentor.”
– Susan Beck Wilson ’71

“We met in my freshman year; he lived in Snyder, I in Hastings. No coed dorms in 1974, our dorm floors would plan parties together. We’d meet up for meals in our common dining hall. By the end of freshman year, we were dating. We became engaged during my senior year and married the next year. We were married for 45 years before his passing.”
– Joyce Kraski Komoroski ’78

“Delta Sigma Phi fraternity had a “sunglass” social with our sorority Alpha Phi on February 1, 1980. My Randy was driving the first car, which came to pick us up at the Alpha Phi suite in Wolf Hall. I decided to ride in his car with my sorority sister, Jamie. Normally, I did not attend socials. I talked the whole ride to the frat house. At the social, Randy asked me to be his ping pong partner, and together we were the champions, beating every couple we played. Later that night, I was on the Morale committee for the Dance Marathon, and after we had talked the night away, Randy said he would take several of us to THON. He actually waited until it was over and walked me to my dorm. He never asked for my number, but I found a silly way to talk to him, and the rest is history. Engaged March 13, 1983, married May 12, 1984, now for 41 years.”
– Lori Lauer Robinson ’80

“We met in the Blue Band in 2021 while he was drum major and I was a silk. Got married on Blue White weekend 2025 (4/26)!”
– Katie Frist ’23

“My fiancé and I met at Penn State Schuylkill in 2007, but we were only ever friends. Fast forward to 2019, and he reached out over social media, and we reconnected. He lived in State College at the time. Now in 2026, we are planning our wedding and live in Hershey.”
– Danielle Carroll ’11

“Back in 2010, I met my boyfriend (now husband, Bryant) during a Summer Session. We shared some classes, and eventually he asked me out casually to join him for dinner at the HUB at Panda Express (we were broke college students lol). We talked so much and didn’t know how much time had passed until we saw the staff closing the place down. He later asked me out on an official date for a stroll at the Arboretum. That date led to many more dates, and eventually we got married in July of 2015! Now, a decade later, we have two sons who are huge Nittany Lion fans.”
– Ekta Sarma ’13

I graduated in spring 2024, and my fiancé graduates in spring 2026! I now work at the university in development.
– Ella Farnell ’24

“We met in calc recitation and flirted through Bowling 1 (taught by Russ Rose!) This was our freshman year, 1982. Bowling 2 and waiting outside overnight at the HUB to buy Phil Collins tickets in January 1983 has led to now knowing each other 43 years, married at Eisenhauer Chapel in 1989.”
– Linda Hill Wilson ’86

 “Tessa and I met in Bio 110 at Penn State Fayette! Now we’re engaged!
– Olivia Spotto ’24

“Don & I met as Lion Ambassadors in 1982. We had so much fun dating during our senior year. After graduating in 1984, we married in 1986 and will celebrate our 40th anniversary this year!  No matter where we lived, we were always those “Penn Staters” and retired in Happy Valley just a few years ago!  Going to that Lion Ambassador interview was the best thing I have ever done, and where I met my soulmate. Both our daughters are alumni, too!  We are a Penn State family.”
– Chrissie Larson, ’84

“My husband and I met at Penn State Mont Alto in February of 2006 through our suite mates. We were married at the Chapel on the PSU Mont Alto campus in June of 2009. We are still going strong and about to celebrate our 20th year together!”
– Stacey Lyons ’08