Esi-Kilanga Bowser-Santiago, B.Arch. ’02, and Eugenio Santiago, B.B.A. ’02
“We met at the Stanford cafeteria in the Spring of 1998 even though we had previously seen each other in Hetch. We both lived in Pentland Tower. We were just friends and we got to know each other throughout the rest of that school year. During the fall semester of 1998, our friendship continued to grow, and we finally realized we were both interested in more than just a platonic relationship. Even though we moved to New York in 2004, we returned to Miami to get married on Key Biscayne. We held our rehearsal dinner in the Whitten Center Ballrooms in 2007 since the U was where it all started.” – Esi-Kilanga
Favorite campus date spot: “Late night walks to the convenience store to spend our DAKA [dining] dollars. We also loved going to Bill Cosford Cinema for early screenings of movies or going to an OJU [Organization for Jamaican Unity] or United Black Students party at the Rat.”
Celia L. Alvarez, A.B. ’94, M.F.A. ’96, M.A. ’99 & Rafael Montes, M.A. ’93, Ph.D. ’03
"My now-husband Rafael and I met in a graduate seminar on nineteenth-century American Literature. We were the only two Cubans in the program at that time. We fell in love, but we kept it secret. On our first official date, we went to see Pulp Fiction. Then we had dinner at Akashi, where they used to have these awesome glass tables with train sets inside them. We loved to go to concerts at the Chili Pepper in Ft. Lauderdale. We saw Adam Ant, Garbage, and David Bowie there. I fainted at the David Bowie concert and came to sitting on the stage with Bowie looking down at me. Then fireman Rafael carried me through the standing crowd. My hero. Eventually, the secret of our relationship came out, and we got married a year after I got my M.F.A. We always joke that our marriage was arranged by the Department of English.”– Celia
Mary Balise, A.B. ’19 & Ella Johnson, B.M. ’19
“Ella and I met as sophomore orientation leaders at the U and are both members of the class of 2019. We just got engaged in November 2020 after several years together! We used to go to the Rat every Friday and play Jenga at the patio bar before going to Mark Light for baseball. Our favorite memory is ’Canes Carnival 2018 when we went to see Two Friends in the pouring rain.” – Mary
Kevin Ridgely, B.B.A. ’76 & Jennifer Ridgely, A.B.’77
“I found my true love while attending the U. I met Jennifer the first week of my sophomore year. She was an incoming freshman. She was, and still is, a tall, beautiful blond woman. For me, there was an instant attraction. I cannot say the same for her. At the time, I had shoulder length hair and rarely wore shoes. We became friends but it stopped there. Later in the year I got my hair cut and generally cleaned up my appearance as I became more involved in school activities. Jennifer ran into me at the "Rat" a few days after my haircut and reacted very favorably to my cleaned-up image. Over time, we became more involved. Our relationship, like any, had its ups and downs over the remaining college years but ultimately turned into a strong bond. We will be married for 43 years this summer and have four grown children and six grandchildren. My time at the U was amazing and still some of my fondest memories. The fact that my wife was there makes it that more memorable as we shared the experience.” – Kevin.
Favorite campus date spot: “The Rat. They had great bands back in the day.”
Brett Brown, B.B.A. ’08 & April Brown, B.S.H.S. ’08
“My wife and I met in the fall of 2007, just a few weeks before she graduated that December. We imagine that we are one of the original successful couples that officially met on Facebook. Both having been in our final year at the U, we had seen each other around campus for several years leading up to mutual friends finally connecting us to one another. She reached out to me first through a friend request and Facebook message—something I love bragging about to this day!. From there, we lined up our first in-person date at the Starbucks located next to the UM campus library. Sparks immediately flew. We celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary in May 2020 and have two amazing children. We are forever grateful to have met each other (just in time) at the University of Miami and are proud to be Miami Hurricanes!” – Brett
Favorite campus date spot: “Tables right outside of ‘the fishbowl’ study area at the Business school or sitting by the lake in the swinging benches at the original Rathskeller.”
Lawrence Dickson, B.B.A. ’78, & Janine T. Dickson, B.F.A.’79
“We met in the Alpha Phi Omega shack. He came in to do some business with somebody, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I wasn’t interested in him initially. And then he got put in my group to do a [service] project. And it was after we worked together that I realized what an outstanding person he was. I was drawn to his intellect, the way he reasoned, and the way he dealt with people. Our best memories are of hour-long bike rides. We would start at his building, Mahoney Pearson, cruise through the back around campus and then go out into the Grove. And we would always end up at Miracle Mile to get ice cream before we came back to campus. We’ve been together not just 41 years, but 41 outstanding, remarkable years.” – Janine
“Her personality is the opposite of mine. She’s outgoing, Type A. I’m type B, shy, quiet. She’s all the things I wasn’t, which makes for a perfect marriage. Our relationship was slow and steady as it should be.” – Lawrence
“Our daughter Sarah met her husband at the U. And she, like myself, was not interested in him initially. Once she got to know him, she found out what a great guy he was, which was the same thing with me. It was kind of like a parallel love story.” – Janine
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Sarah Snyder, B.S.N. ’12, D.N.P. ’18 & Aaron Snyder, B.S.E.D. ’11
“Both of my parents went to UM, so I grew up watching Hurricane football games and going down to campus. I met Aaron the first day I moved into the dorms. My roommate and I were standing in the hallway and a group of friends came up to us and introduced themselves. Aaron was in the group. At first, he was just an acquaintance. There really wasn't anything special about it. Over time, that turned into a friendship. Then Aaron asked me out for dinner, and I turned him down. He asked me out again. And I kept thinking that it was a joke, because we were such good friends. He kept pursuing me in a way that I'd never really been pursued by anybody before. And one day, it just clicked with me that maybe I should give him a chance. We went to Anacapri for dinner. It was Homecoming night so after dinner, we came back to campus and we watched the fireworks. From there, he asked me to be his girlfriend, and we've been together ever since. We now have a three-year-old and a nine-month-old.” – Sarah
Janet Fisher, B.S. ’05, Ph.D. ’10 & Brian Fisher, B.S. ’06
“We met our very first week of freshman year at a new student party hosted in the resident master's apartment in Stanford tower. It turns out we lived directly above/below each other on the 11th and 12th floors - just a corner staircase away! Shortly after we met, my laptop computer broke, and since I knew Brian was a computer engineering major, I dropped by his room and begged him to fix it. The request for a date seemed a very reasonable way to repay him for the work, and we have been a couple ever since. At UM, we had Sbarro pizza and McDonald’s apple pie dates when we were broke, ate Moon sushi for three days straight after Hurricane Charley since they were the only restaurant within walking distance of campus that was open, went to every single home football game, drank nearly every beer on the menu at Titanic and the Rat, and finally attended each other's graduations. We were married at his home church in West Palm Beach in 2007, and in 2013 we finally managed to get jobs in the same place and settle down just outside of Atlanta, where we currently live.” – Janet
Whitney Fincher Gelpi, B.A.M. ’07 & Stephen Gelpi
“My husband and I met in our first class, freshman year. Acting 101. We were paired together by the teacher for a trust exercise to do "blind walk" around campus. We will be married 10 years this year. At one point there was a photo banner of us in a choir group that hung outside of the bookstore in the UC and the photo was taken before we were together. So many cherished memories and we love the U for bringing us together. We now have a six-year-old and a two-year-old.” – Whitney
Did you find love on campus? Share your ’Cane Couple story here.
