Cupid comes to campus

From lecture notes to love notes, these college romances made the grade.

Words by Kara Pothier and Emily W. Dodd

Danielle Vansia '12 and her husband Raj Vansia '12

Alumni from across decades share memories of first dates, proposals at beloved campus landmarks, and the moments they realized the college had given them something much more than a diploma: a lasting love that didn’t require a single credit hour. Long after the papers were written and the caps were tossed, the “place where it all began” continues as the thread that stitched these lives together.

My husband, Arno Miller ’11, and I met in the summer of 2010. We realized we had a lot of mutual friends. Then we kept bumping into each other at The Rat for concerts. I was in CUB, and he was a sound tech, so we have a lot of special memories there. We joke that if The Rat were still around, it is where we would have gotten married. — ALISON MILLER ’12

I didn’t meet my husband, Raj Vansia ’12, until senior year. But once we met, we realized that we had unknowingly crossed paths many times before that. I lived on Wolfe 1, and he lived on Wolfe 2 in the room directly above me. Junior year, we both lived in Townhouses East, just two townhouses apart. There was even one instance that we were able to trace back to being in the same room together. We finally met through a mutual friend. — DANIELLE VANSIA ’12

I met the love of my life on the first day of my freshman year. Joseph Marmorato ’90 was my next-door neighbor on Wolfe 3. We have been together ever since, married 32 years. — NANCY THORNE MARMORATO ’91

We met in Townhouses South. Joe Bisti ’00 lived on the second floor, and I was on the third. I would walk past him on my way to my room. Every single time he saw me, he would say, “Hi Liissssaa.” We had our first date at The Bistro on campus, and now have been married over 20 years. All because he said hi. — LISA BISTI ’00

My husband introduced himself to me on my first day of college; he was my community advisor. My grandmother was with me, and she said, “Well, he was looking at you!” I said, “No, he was just being friendly.” We started dating two months later and we have been together since. — KELLY ECKEL MAHONEY ’97

Some friends I was with on a summer study abroad trip said I would love their friend who had just graduated. Back on campus that fall, they invited him to their townhouse so we could meet. The rest is history. We realized he must have checked my key a million times when I was a freshman in Wolfe Hall because he worked the front desk security. — LINDSAY KNIGHT ’07 AND CHRISTOPHER RATH ’06

My husband, Steve Munoz ’16, played the lead in TCNJ Musical Theatre’s production of Pippin in 2012. I played his grandma! Anyone who’s done theater knows that relationships with your fellow cast and crew grow quickly. We also had a lot of mutual friends, so we spent plenty of time together off stage as well. Late nights hanging out with a small group of friends in the ABE lounge stand out as where our friendship really started. — VIANNA FAGEL ’13

Michael Aromando ’04 and I took Professor Sally Archer’s class, Psychology of Personal Relationships, together. The class explored the dynamics of romantic relationships. We literally started dating and fell in love while taking a course about dating and falling in love. He proposed on the bridge behind Allen, Brewster, and Ely Halls. — CHRISTINE YZAGUIRRE AROMANDO ’04

On my first date with my wife, Megan Moriarty ’08, I turned my dorm room into a restaurant. We were both community advisors in Cromwell Hall, and some of our residents helped me to cook dinner and attempt to bake a cake (with no success) in the dorm’s kitchen. My life has been better every day since. — RYAN MORIARTY ’08

It wasn’t love at first sight for us because he was mad that I was an actress who was stage-managing him in an All College Theater production. But 25 years of marriage and 6 kids later, our TCNJ romance is going strong. — Jessica ’98 and Bob ’98 Corriveau

We were close friends as members of Zeta Beta Tau. But we lost touch after graduation. We reunited at a fraternity picnic in 2005 and have been together ever since. We were married at the Spiritual Center on campus and had our reception in Eickhoff Hall. — BRANDON ’91 AND BONNIE ’94 ROSE

I saw Dave Washington ’91 in the lobby of Travers/Wolfe in 1990, and I told a sorority sister he was the one I was going to marry. Love at first sight for sure. — KIM SHUSTACK-WASHINGTON ’91

Matthew Grapstul ’15 caught my eye on move-in day freshman year, but we didn’t start dating until our senior year. We got engaged at “our bench” near Lake Sylva in 2018. — VICTORIA SWIFT-GRAPSTUL ’14, MAT ’15

We met on move-in day while we were in line for keys in Wolfe Hall. We found out we were on the same floor and started dating a month later. The rest is history. — ABIGAIL ’17 AND MARC ’17 BURNS

Illustrations: Olivier Kluger