1. Organize a scavenger hunt
Met my significant other in Littell Hall in September 2014. We also had an education class together. To ask her out, I sent her on a scavenger hunt all over campus searching for clues which eventually led to me at Hunt Union Pond. This October marks 5 years together. 🙂
~Ryan Page '17
2. Pick a fight with someone bigger
First week of school, 1975, I was walking with my longtime friend and roommate Neal Freiman in the dining hall next to Littell, and there she was – the most beautiful face I've ever seen. My only challenge was that there was this junior guy who would not leave her alone, so one day in the union, I went up to him and told him that Sherri was mine. Like most guys, he was much bigger than me and he said, " I could kick your a** for saying this but I do respect it so I'll back off!" Sometimes you just have to go after the important things in life and I won big-time! 44 years later, 38 married, we've never been stronger as a couple and it all started in the place that will forever be our second home, Oneonta!
~Mitch Troy ’79
3. Paint the wall
2011 Oneonta grads Phil Whitman and Gabriella Lena-Murphy got engaged in October 2014 after an elaborate series of birthday surprises for Gabby, including Phil’s proposal at the Hartwick wall! The couple met seven years earlier, in Wilsbach at a group lunch of mutual friends.
My husband and I met in Golding Hall on the third day of freshman year. He lived on the first floor and I lived on the other side of the building on the third floor. It was pretty much love at first sight. The rest is history! We dated all through our amazing undergrad life and then got married in 2016! We are both teachers in Utica!
~Samantha (Allen) Levine '12
I met my wife-to-be, Michele Strauss Borger, at a Golding Hall dorm party in September 1976. For reasons that I have long forgotten, I did not ask her out on a date until two and a half years later – February 15, 1979. I took her to see the original Superman movie at the movie theatre on Dietz Street. After three dates, she blew me off, until having second thoughts post-graduation, seven months later. By then, she was at grad school in Indiana and I was in law school in Albany. A year later we were "an item," in 1983 we were engaged, and married in September 1984. A blissful 34+ years of marriage for two '79 grads. All because of Golding Hall and O-State!
~Mitchell Borger ’79
I met my other half the second day of my freshman year. He was my roommate’s boyfriend’s suitemate. We started as great friends and after a year and a half of being best friends, he finally asked me out! I said yes! And we have been together for almost 5 years! He proposed last March and we are getting married next June! He is the best! ❤️
~Katie Anne Linger '16
I met the love of my life, Stephanie Ana Paez, my sophomore year of college, circa 2011. I had just moved into Matteson Hall where she was one of the RAs. From the moment I saw her sitting in the cage smiling, I was hooked. Fast forward 7 years, careers, miles, and everything else in between, Stephanie is my best friend, the love of my life and the greatest thing to come out of my experience at Oneonta... cold cheese pizza is in close second. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like today had I never met RA Steph at Matteson Hall!
~Joshua Bracken ’13
James Lauzun was the TA for the White Water Kayaking club. I showed up a bit early to the pool where the club was being held, so I took a seat on a bench by the edge of the water. A few minutes later, a messy haired guy in a one piece wet suit comes around the corner, and it was love at first sight. He spent the pool time flirting with me instead of teaching me anything. Five years later, we were married. Two months ago, we had our first child. He hasn't stopped flirting since.
~Chelsea Lauzun ’11
I was a student manager at Mills dining hall. My junior year one of the managers came to me and said catering was shorthanded for an event and asked if I would be interested in making $10/hour (BIG MONEY). My now-wife was a student manager for catering. I thought she was cute and apparently she thought I was, too. Management for catering apparently thought we'd make a cute couple so I kept getting invited back to work catering and became a regular. And I somehow kept finding myself working alongside this cute brunette! One thing led to another and we got married in 2009. We just welcomed our 3rd child into the world 7 weeks ago. I still have her listed in my phone as ‘Catering Kate.’
~Bill Wright ’07
Mikey Perkins and I met in the beginning of freshman year in Littell Hall (2012). I was running for vice president and decided it was a good idea to campaign for myself by walking around with bags of chocolate. I was standing in front of a room when Mikey came walking down the hall. I introduced myself to him and told him that he should vote for me on Tuesday when elections come around. He responded, "That's pretty funny, because I'm running for that position, too." Needless to say, I won, but we became best friends. We competed in our first powerlifting competition together in downtown Oneonta, became Registered Dietitians, and now own a business together. ❤
~Tiffany Ma ’16
I met my husband when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore in the fall of 1979. We lived on the same floor in Ford Hall. This April, we will be married 36 years. My husband’s brother and sister also met their spouses as freshmen living in Ford Hall. And before all of us met, my mother-in-law and father-in-law met when she was a student at SUNY Oneonta and he was at Hartwick. You might say meeting your spouse in Oneonta runs in the family for us!
~Kathi Bruno Grill ’82
I first laid eyes on my now-husband, Eddie Sablinski, the very first day of college, freshman year 1987, in Littell Hall. Our first kiss was on February 17, 1991, in the General Clinton Pub where he was a bartender. At a pool tournament at the Pub a few weeks later, he asked me to become his girlfriend, and our story began. Our first ‘I love you’ was in front of The Rail. By 1993 we were engaged, then married in 1994. We celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on April 30th of this year.
~Christie Pape Sablinski ’91
Christie says: "Our frequent trips to visit Oneonta with our children and expose them to the finest things it has to offer (Tino’s!!!) paid off. Our daughter Chelsea started at SUNY Oneonta this past fall of 2018. Our son Jack is hopeful to follow all of our footsteps when he graduates high school in 2020!"
See more Oneonta Love Stories on the SUNY Oneonta Facebook page!
© 2026 SUNY Oneonta
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)