From chance encounters to set-ups through friends, from freshman-dorm neighbors to encounters in alumnihood, these WAA member “meet-cutes” will make you fall for the UW all over again. Did you meet your sweetheart singing “Sweet Caroline,” woo your boo with Babcock ice cream, or pop the question at Picnic Point? Share your UW love stories with us to be featured in next year’s “I Fell in Love with U-(Rah-Rah!)”
October 1961, Dawn K. and I were in the Rathskeller. She was sitting under the arch with some classmates from an English literature course. One of the persons at the table was my roommate, Craig H. So I went over to say hello to Craig and sat down next to Dawn. I had three envelopes in my pocket with stamps, to be dropped into a mailbox. Dawn reached over, grabbed the envelopes, and said, “I suppose these are your girlfriends.” She saw that two were written to someone with my same last name and assumed those were to relatives. One was to my mother and another to my sister, but the third was to my married sister. Well, we chatted and decided that we would get together after finals and go dancing at the Villa on Park Street. Since my roommate, Craig, didn’t like to fast dance, Dawn and I spent the evening on the dance floor, and that was it for both of us. It was true love, nearly at first sight. We married in June 1963. What a wonderful life.
Daryl Lund ’63, MS’65, PhD’68
Met in meteorology class in 1968 and then at a beer supper where my sorority and his fraternity were together. Married in 1970 and have been married for 55 years. We have lived all over but want to move back to Madison, Wisconsin, as soon as we can!
Roger Mclimans ’69 and Mary Marty Mclimans ’70
Met my future husband [Paul Harkins ’71, MD’75] while working at Rennebohm’s on State Street. We were both in pharmacy school. Together almost 54 years, both kids UW grads too.
Andrea Harkins ’70
I was a nursing student and Paul was in landscape architecture. We were introduced by mutual friends (also UW students, Paul’s roommate and my nursing classmate/friend) on a blind date. From that date forward, we became friends and dated exclusively, enjoying every UW event and the beautiful campus and falling in love. We were married in 1975 and will celebrate 50 years in December. Two of our three children graduated from UW–Madison, and the third was a UW System grad. The grandchildren want to be Badgers as well. All love the campus and attend athletic and other events. On, Wisconsin.
Barbara ’73 and Paul ’73 Bergum
Met during summer jobs in the Dells. Dated and fell in love as UW students. Married 51 years. Both Class of ’73.
James’73 and Nancy ’73 Reck
We met in ’77 in the business school, back when classes were held in the Commerce Building. The UW holds such great memories for us! We have been married for 40 years and have one son who is also an alumnus.
Steven Umland ’78 and Sue Sheyer Umland ’79
Met through friends at Big Weenie Wednesday (now, there is an oldie) at the Regent Street Retreat. He’s an ’87 grad, and I’m an ’88. Didn’t reunite until several years later at one of those friend’s weddings. The rest, as they say, is history!
Russell ’87, MS’92 and Marlene ’88 Tilsner
Bryan and I are both alumni from the University of Wisconsin–Madison — we never did meet at Wisconsin but met three years after I graduated in 1991 in NYC at a Founders’ Day dinner where Mike Leckrone was the guest speaker! This October, we will be married 30 years and have lived in NJ. (Bryan is from NJ!) We are both proud Badgers! We have two kids — our son lives in Milwaukee, and our daughter is a senior at Indiana. We are Big Ten fans, but first, we are Badgers. On, Wisconsin!
Cate ’88 and Bryan Carley
I was a freshman in Sellery A; she was a friend’s housefellow (just friends). My sophomore year, she was assigned to be my housefellow in Sellery B. We started dating at the end of March. Engaged two years later, married a year after that, and still together 26-and-a-half years later. We couldn’t be happier and have two sons who are both currently Badgers.
Stacey ’96 and Doug ’97, MBA’04 Bohachek
We met freshman year on the ninth floor of Sellery Hall. Married for 27 years, together for 31 years. Our daughter is currently a junior and a fourth-generation Badger, behind us, her grandfather and great-grandparents. Her great-grandfather played football for the Badgers in the ’40s.
Kristin ’96 and Peter ’96 Nines
We met through friends during one of the first weeks of my freshman year at UW–Madison in the fall of ’97. My friend wanted to visit a guy that she was interested in in Turner House (Kronshage). That guy had a roommate (Matt), and Matt and I had a great conversation. A fun conversation that night developed into friendship. One night, a group was planning to get together, but I was sick. Upon hearing that, Matt made his way to my dorm room, took one look at me, and said he thought that I should go to the emergency room. He flagged down a pizza delivery guy who drove us to UW Hospital. Matt stayed in the waiting room until the middle of the night and then walked me back to my dorm. He also called to check on me over the next several days to see how I was recovering from strep throat. Following our “first date” to the ER, we spent more time together and, finally, fell in love. We thoroughly enjoyed our years in Madison, going to Badger football and hockey games, walking the Lakeshore Path, watching sunsets from his balcony above Lake Mendota, spending summer nights at the Terrace, and having Friday morning breakfast dates at Mickie’s Dairy Bar. We got engaged in October ’99 and married in September ’01. We have two kids (Sam, 15, and Sophia, 12), who enjoy coming to Madison for football games and band concerts. We’re hoping that they’ll both consider UW–Madison when it’s time for them to decide where to go for college.
Matt Pekarske ’00 and Nicole Meyers Pekarske ’01
My husband and I met in 1999 when he transferred to Madison from UW–[River Falls]. We were both in the UW Band and went to the 2000 Rose Bowl together!
Alan ’02, MAcc’03 and Kassy ’02 Bartelme
We met at a house party our sophomore year, found out we were in the same organic chem class, and started studying together. We’ve been married for over 10 years!
Bryan ’09, DVM’15 and Emily ’10, DNP’18 Schumacher
We met while he was home for Christmas break on New Year’s Eve 2008. I wasn’t able to go away to college, but my dream was to be a Badger. In 2009, I fell in love with my now husband while falling in love with the campus when visiting him. I remember a warm night on Bascom Hill, staring at the stars, and evenings spent at the Terrace. He graduated spring of 2009, and I remember thinking that I would do this someday, too. We got married in 2012 and come back to visit multiple times a year and even bring our dogs. Twelve years later, I got to stand with my husband in front of the Kohl Center as I held my master’s diploma in my hand. We love our Badgers, past, present, and future!
Dan ’09 and Elizabeth MS’24 Steimle
We met before classes even started freshmen year at an orientation for our major in the Allen Centennial Garden. I asked Chris to join me on a library tour, and the rest was history! Ten years later, we were married, and 18 years later, we still call Madison our amazing home. Full circle moment is Chris now teaches the same classes we took all those years ago that brought us together.
Ryan Parkos ’10 and Chris Sina ’10
Shortly after Cindy graduated, she moved into a house on Madison Street with a mutual friend of both her and Tony’s. Tony was still in school and started coming around the Madison Street house in the summer of 2013 to grill and hang out in the backyard. After getting to know each other more, they realized they had a lot of the same friends and could even recall dates where they were at the same party or bar with the same people, but they never remembered meeting until that summer of 2013! That fall, Cindy and Tony made it official, and the rest is history. They married in 2018 at Union South and have two beautiful daughters who enjoy tagging along to Badger football and volleyball games as a family!
Cindy ’11 and Tony ’15 Gackstetter
My husband and I met in the UW Marching Band in August 2007. I was a sophomore and went to meet some of the freshmen during tryouts week. I walked over and asked this boy his name, and lightning literally struck one of the fields nearby when he gave his answer. We were friends for about six months, started dating in February 2008, got engaged in December 2011, married in June 2013, and just had our third child together a month ago. We had a Wisconsin-themed wedding. All of the tables were sections in Camp Randall. There was a student section race with little kids, and we did a massive Fifth Quarter. We have attended almost every home Badger game, even the four years we lived in M*chigan. We now live in Madison, where we frequently host our college friends for get-togethers.
Ryan Panzer ’11 and Annie Wilcox Panzer ’11
On November 11, 2011, I attended the UW NROTC Birthday Ball in the Great Hall of Memorial Union. During the dinner hour, Lauren Monge introduced herself and asked me to save her a dance. Of course, I obliged, and we shared several dances throughout the evening. Shortly thereafter, we were officially dating. I graduated from the College of Engineering in May 2013, and Lauren graduated from the School of Nursing in May 2015. Coinciding with her graduation, Lauren was commissioned as an active-duty officer in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Six short days later, we were married at the Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, just off of State Street, and hosted the reception where it all began, the Great Hall in Memorial Union. Since then, we’ve been blessed with two beautiful daughters. Our family currently lives near the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, and we are approaching our 10th wedding anniversary in May. We look forward to a couple of trips a year to visit family in Wisconsin, often making time for day trips to Madison. Our girls affectionately refer to the University of Wisconsin–Madison as “Bucky Badger School.”
Kyle Preston ’13, MS’15 and Lauren Preston ’15
Bill and I are from neighboring towns and attended high schools in the same district. But it took us attending Wisconsin and living in Sellery Hall for our paths to cross! What followed was a relationship that grew over many classes, parties, game days, runs to Picnic Point, and a semester abroad. It’s 15 years later, and we’re married with a baby on the way. We are so grateful for the school that brought us together!
Addie Testa ’13 and Bill Henry ’13
We met during SOAR in August 2010 in the basement of Humanities. By the time early move-in came around we realized we were neighbors, with Jesse in Swenson and Ashley in Jones. Our first date was to a Badger football game, and we’ve never looked back. We added our dog, Aspen, to the crew our senior year, shortly before Jesse left for the Navy. Jesse proposed in 2016 on leave in Hawaii, and we were married in Madison in 2018. In December 2024, after 14 years together, we welcomed our little girl, named Madison, for the city in which we fell in love.
Ashley Martin-Metcalf ’14 and Jesse Metcalf ’15, MS’15
We lived down the hall from each other our freshman year in Bradley! We started off as good friends and started to date our second semester of freshman year. Fast forward four years: Wil went to medical school in Chicago, and I got my first nursing job there as well. We got married on the Memorial Union Terrace in 2019 after Wil graduated medical school. A few days later, we moved to California with our fluffy cat, Luna, and have been enjoying exploring the outdoors together ever since. Wil now works as a critical care doctor, and I work as a flight nurse.
William Gibb ’15 and Katja Kane-Foempe ’16
I played clarinet in the marching band, and he played the trombone. We met freshman year in the basement of the “bone haus.” We became friends and didn’t start dating until we graduated, but today we are married and raising two future Badgers
Amy ’15 and Leo ’15 Olson
Aaron and I met the summer of 2014 while working at the brat stand on the Memorial Union Terrace. I was working the register on a beautiful July evening, and Aaron had just gotten off shift and ordered a beer from me, and the rest is history. We have so many sweet memories, all tied to our time at the UW, like cheering on the women’s volleyball team, our first date at Allen Centennial Garden, and many walks through campus.
Aaron Scharff ’15 and Abigail Ernst ’16, MS’19
My husband, Sam, and I met in the fall of 2020 when Sam made the UW Marching Band. We both played trumpet, and as soon as we met, we instantly clicked. From bonding during COVID Marching Band to performing summer gigs, we have been together ever since. We got engaged at my last football game (against Minnesota, November 26, 2022) during the Fifth Quarter. Sam proposed during “Space Badger,” so that tune will always hold a special place in our hearts. We eventually got married in January 2024. Of course, we had our Band friends make a special Fifth Quarter appearance on our day! Sam and I are now back at the UW as graduate students and don’t plan on leaving Madison anytime soon.
Savanna ’22 MSx’26 and Samuel ’24, MSx’25 Dean
