Celebrating Duck Love stories
Ahead of Valentine’s Day 2024, we asked UO alumni to share their tales of romance. Some alumni met through Fraternity and Sorority Life, others through on-campus jobs, and one couple through the UO’s cadaver lab. One thing they all have in common is that these lucky Ducks found love.
These stories span decades and include couples that met both on and off campus. Some fell in love immediately and knew they’d be together forever, while others reunited well after graduation.
We thank everyone who submitted their stories!
Bill Wolff, BS ’67 (speech) and Lynn Burry Wolff, BA ’67 (speech)
[We] met in Professor Ryan’s phonetics class winter term 1966. Lynn accepted Bill’s offered Sigma Chi pin September 1966 and engagement ring in January 1967. [We were] married September 1967. Bill’s mom Marian Kennedy [graduated from the] UO in 1936. Bill and Lynn’s daughter Leigh Wolff Flynn [graduated from] the School of Journalism and Communication in 1996, and [our] granddaughters Abby Wolff and Kyra Flynn [graduated from] the School of Journalism and Communication in 2019 and 2021, [respectively]. Go Ducks!!
Hannah Gurewitz, BA ’12 (Spanish, Clark Honors College) & Grant Gurewitz, BS ’13 (public relations)
Grant and I met my senior year at UO (2012). I was a senior looking for a date to my sorority spring formal and a mutual friend suggested Grant, as someone “taller than me and not a jerk.” We went to spring formal together and the rest is history! We got married in 2017 and live in Tacoma, Washington. I’m an attorney and Grant works in marketing and serves on the UO Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Olivia Collins, BA ’17 (international studies) & Kaid Collins, BS ’16 (general social science)
It all started with a salad . . . In 2014, I was a sophomore at the UO working on campus at DUX Bistro. Kaid was a senior and a regular at DUX, coming in after workouts at the Rec Center. Nearly every day he’d come in and order the same thing—a custom salad with three scoops of black beans. Of course, being young and silly, my coworkers and I came up with a code name for him, “Three Bean.”
For weeks I’d look out for him during my shifts, hoping to see him, even if just for a second. Every time he came in, he always had this big, bright smile on his face and was so nice to everyone on our staff. It wasn’t until one fateful night that I ran into Kaid at Taylor’s Bar. We locked eyes and without thinking, I blurted out excitedly “Three Bean!” Completely embarrassed, I tried to run away, but Kaid grabbed my hand and asked for an explanation. Embarrassed (and most likely bright red in the cheeks) I admitted why I recognized him and why I called him “Three Bean.” Luckily, Kaid happened to think it was the cutest thing ever and we spent the rest of the night hanging out together.
A week later we went on our first date to Thai food at Ta Ra Rin and the rest is history! Fast forward eight years and we've gone through long distance, multiple career changes, new business ventures, three apartments, dozens of trips together, and a two-year engagement. We finally got to tie the knot in San Francisco on June 10, 2022!
Isabella Des Roches, BS ’23 (human physiology) & Timothy Ehlen, BS ’22 (human physiology)
In winter 2021, Timothy and Isabella met in the UO cadaver lab, which houses eight humans who have generously donated their bodies to the Human Physiology Department. Here, the couple was serving as undergraduate learning assistants for the 300-level anatomy and physiology sequence. They were set up by a fellow colleague who knew that they would be perfect for each other.
You could say it was literally love at first sight. Timothy graduated in 2022 with a BS in human physiology and a minor in chemistry. Isabella graduated the following year in 2023, also with a BS in human physiology, and two minors in chemistry and biology.
From moving in together to starting jobs in their fields and adopting a kitten together, they have continued their love story as UO graduates. The couple celebrated their two-year anniversary in January and a day never goes by without having heart palpitations for each other. In August, Isabella will be attending veterinary school, where she will earn her doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Timothy is an aspiring physician assistant and is applying to programs this year. They look forward to settling down together in the Pacific Northwest after medical school and to representing the UO in their future professions. GO DUCKS!
Jennifer Mendez-Ruiz, BA ’20 (Spanish, journalism) & Robert Sawai, BA ’20 (advertising)
Robert and I both lived on Carson Hall’s fifth floor as first-year students, but we never crossed paths until move-out week of that year. We quickly became part of the same friend group and stayed in touch throughout the summer.
By the time we returned to campus for our second year, we discovered we shared many common interests. We both enjoyed going to football games, studying at the EMU, and being part of multicultural clubs and organizations. Robert even switched his major from marketing to advertising, while I remained a journalism major, which meant we would eventually spend more of our time at the School of Journalism and Communication.
During our third year, we remained close friends and both became part of the Catholic Ducks organization through the Newman Center right off campus. This allowed us to form an even stronger bond as we lived through our shared faith and beliefs. Once our senior year began, we continued to remain close friends, and by winter term we came to a realization that as much as we enjoyed our friendship, we both knew there was something deeper transpiring. We officially began dating on March 13, 2020, just one day short of the pandemic shutting everything down in Eugene.
As our friends moved back home, we both stayed in Eugene to finish out the rest of our senior year via Zoom. Upon graduating, Robert got a job and moved to Louisiana, while I worked various virtual internships from my parent’s home in Oregon. After two long years of long distance, we both relocated and are now living and working in Los Angeles. We’ll have been together four years this March. Thank you to the University of Oregon for helping me find my better half!
Claire Martin, BA ’16 (political science) & Matthew Martin, class of 2016 (political science)
In 2014 I was a student employee for the Student Alumni Association, and was working with another student, Tanner, on a video for an upcoming conference. Tanner and I ended up becoming friends, and he had a roommate named Matthew. Over the next two years, we were a group of friends, intramural volleyball teammates, and just Ducks working to graduate.
After I graduated in 2016 and everyone in the friend group moved back home, Matthew and I were the only ones left in Eugene. We eventually started dating, rescued a dog together named Molly, and stayed in Eugene for a few more years while we both worked. In 2019 we moved to Portland, both starting new jobs. In September 2021, we got engaged and were married this past year on May 20, 2023. We now have our tuxedo cat, Franky, our corgi, Hey Hey, and are living our best lives!