York College Love Stories: Celebrating Alumni Couples

From first sparks flying in classrooms and club activities, to the journey of marriage and starting a family, York College of Pennsylvania has been the beginning of many love stories. 

There’s a lot to love about York College — and for some alumni, love was an especially meaningful part of their YCP experience! In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating some of the students who turned into sweethearts, and the members of our Spartan family who went on to start families of their own. “Without York College, we never would have met, and all this wouldn’t be possible,” said Melissa Robertson ‘18 and Nick Williams ‘17, who found one another on campus before getting married in October of 2023.

Sometimes, relationships blossom in the classroom, like Alysen Donahue ‘23 and Tucker Deacon ‘20. “I had shown up to [biology lab] right on time and the last seat open was saved for me by a friend I had made at orientation,” explains Alysen. “Well…my friend ended up being in the wrong class. That left me next to Tucker…We were friends for about a year before he asked me on a date. Three years later, we’re both alumni and still going strong!”

Other Spartan couples met through involvement in student clubs or organizations. Carolyn ‘09 and Rich Smith ‘10 have been married for over 11 years and are now parents to two boys. “Rich was initiating to Phi Sigma Pi, which I was already a member of at the time,” says Carolyn. “He joined the co-ed honors fraternity and became my little…We spent a lot of time together as big and little, and found we had more of a connection than just being in the fraternity…Once he became a brother, we started dating and have been together ever since.” The couple, both York County natives, chose to stay in the area as they started their family. Carolyn now teaches at York College in the Stabler Department of Nursing, while Rick is a math teacher at York County School of Technology.

And of course, Cupid’s arrow isn’t confined to the boundaries of the YCP campus. We heard from couples like Austen Sparenga ‘20 and Erin Masterhouse ‘20, who first met “one faithful night at Murph’s Study Hall.” Others, including Bridget ‘17 and Landry Marshall ‘18, and Jason ‘01 and Lacey Saurbaugh ‘98, met on nearby Jackson Street. “[Jason] didn’t have any utilities turned on in his West Jackson house,” says Lacey. “My sorority sisters and I took pity on [him and his roommates] and let them use our shower…The rest is history. We have been married for over 20 years and have four beautiful daughters — one is heading to YCP to play women’s lacrosse in 2024.”

No matter how they met, our Spartan couples all shared one sentiment: gratitude for the connections they made at York College and how those relationships have impacted their lives. This is especially true for alumni like Tim ‘10 and Monica Boldurian ‘11, who connected as student employees at the bookstore and are now married with two children. They still come back to campus from time to time, and keep in touch with friends they met through classes, Greek life, and campus athletics:

“YCP will always hold a special place in our families’ hearts.”

Thank you for sharing your Spartan love stories!

Austen Sparenga & Erin Masterhouse 

“My boyfriend and I met in 2019, during our senior year at York College, one faithful night at Murph’s Study Hall. He was a 2019 December grad, and I was a 2020 pandemic grad. We were only dating three months before the pandemic hit and we had to do over five months’ worth of FaceTime dates and not seeing each other in person. We’re now coming up on five amazing years together!”

Ben & Sarah:

“We met through a mutual friend on campus. We met our junior year, but didn’t get to know each other until senior year. First semester of senior year, we would pass each other on our walks to and from classes, and I always noticed him. One night at Murph’s, we happened to run into each other and I insisted he add me on Snapchat. It all bloomed from there. He would send me messages and reply to my stories until one day he asked me if I’d like to go on a date to get frozen yogurt. He picked me up outside of Richland and we’ve been together ever since. We even walked together on graduation day!”

Kevin & Kelly Murphy:

“We met on the YCP campus in 2001. We dated for three years and then we were married in 2004. We earned our graduate degrees from YCP in 2005 and 2007. Then, we had two wonderful boys. This fall, we will be married for 20 years. Our oldest son just attended YCP's Fall Open House. He will graduate in 2026 and hopes to attend YCP! As you can see, our YCP journey has been very important in our lives professionally and personally.”

Abigail & Devin Chapman: 

“Devin and I met in an Abnormal Psychology course at YCP! Dr. Carla Strassle was our professor for the Spring 2018 semester. We were assigned, at random, as project partners, tasked with filming a PSA to decrease the stigmas surrounding mental illness. We worked on the project, filmed the video, and remained cordial together. As the semesters went on, Devin and I ended up having another class together, but this entire time, I (Abby) had a boyfriend! Fast forward to about a year later, after Devin had graduated, and I was preparing to finish my final semester. We ended up reconnecting over social media. Having since become single, Devin and I began chatting and getting to know each other better. We had our first date a few weeks before my graduation in May of 2019, and began dating in August. The first year and a half of our relationship was almost entirely long distance. In April 2021, I relocated from my hometown in PA to Maryland, where Devin is from, and we finally moved in together! In September 2021, after two years together, at sunset in Ocean City, MD, Devin asked me to marry him. We recently got married on November 4, 2023, and are so excited to continue building our lives together! We are so grateful to YCP for bringing us together!!!”

Joshua & Kasey Lofties: 

“Josh & I met in Groove Ensemble in August 2015 with Prof. Jeff Stabley, just an extra class we both took because we both play percussion. We became friends because of our shared interest and started hanging out. We officially started dating in March of 2016. Outside of school, we started teaching high school marching band together and have been ever since! For my 21st birthday, we took a trip to Toronto, where Josh proposed. We were married on 10/13/2019 and welcomed our first child in September of 2022.”

Caroline May & Jack Green: 

“Jack and I met in nursing school at YCP! We met during Pediatrics clinical in 2022 but have unknowingly been in classes together since 2019. We were friends until the last few months of senior year, when we became more than friends. We got through the stress of graduation prep together — studying for exams and finals together every day, helping each other with homework and quizzes. We took a celebratory spring break vacation, and finally graduated together! Now, we both live in Baltimore, Maryland right on the water. Jack is a nurse at Shock Trauma of UM, and I am a Bone Marrow Transplant Oncology Nurse at Johns Hopkins. We are so so grateful for the experiences we shared at YCP that brought us to this beautiful life, and look forward to our future together!”

Melissa Robertson & Nick Williams 

“Nick and I met in 2017 and hit it off instantly. Nick was in Kappa Delta Phi, and I was a participant on the women’s rugby team. From the start, we became best friends and supported each other through it all. We stood by each other’s side at both of our graduations, moved into our first home in 2019, and became engaged in 2021! We finally tied the knot this past October of 2023 and have been living happily ever after since! Without York College, we never would have met, and all this wouldn’t have been possible!” 

Marissa Migioia & James Harrison:

“James and I met through Greek Life at YCP. We both ironically lived in the same dorm (Beard Hall) our freshman year. but really met and started dating our sophomore year. Life at college went quick — and we’re now engaged and getting married this May. We’re so thankful York College brought us together.”

Quintin Herb & Amber Wiesberg: 

“We met at York College while working for Mail Services as part of our work-study employment in 2017.  We lived in opposite directions of the College and talked all summer long, even going on a trip to Hershey Park together. We ended up dating once the fall 2018 semester started up, and we have been happily together ever since. We even work in downtown York near each other (Amber works at Creative York and I work at KioWare).”

Jim Sharkey & Melissa Rechter: 

“Jim and Melissa met working together as Orientation Leaders during the first ever YCP Summer Orientation program in 2016. They got to know each other over the two-week program and agreed to keep in touch over the summer. As they returned in the fall early to prepare for Fall Orientation, they continued to hang out and by September had officially started dating. Two years later, they graduated YCP together during spring 2018. During their six-year anniversary, on a Halloween trip to Salem, MA, Jim proposed to Melissa and their wedding is set for January 25, 2025.”

Jessica and Zachary McMichael: 

“Zachary and I met when put in a group project in our Sociology 101 class with Dr. Steven Jacobs first semester of our freshman year! I was wearing a Boston (band) t-shirt  and we got to talking about music (and maybe not doing our assignment…sorry Dr. Jacobs!). Zachary asked me to play guitar with him sometime, and I said no! Hah! Good thing I felt bad, found him on Facebook, and apologized. The rest is history! Been together 12 years, married six, and had our first child, Cecilia Marie, this year. Thank you to YCP for giving me my family!”

Eric & Bethany Miller: 

“We met through mutual friends at dinner freshman year before we went and watched Ben Bailey's comedy show. We noticed we had the same sense of humor. Sat together at the show and we were pretty much inseparable since. Did some long distance for a few years, when he left after sophomore year, and then when I graduated we moved in together. Married and 3 babies later.”

Rob & Jen Case: 

“Rob and I met our very first day at YCP in August 2000 because our roommates went to high school together! He lived in Manor North and I was in Penn. We all became fast friends and did pretty much everything together! We started dating in October of 2000, got engaged in December of 2005, married in December 2006 and just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary! The attached pictures are Hershey Park circa 2002, our engagement photo in 2005, and just this past December with our four beautiful children!” 

Alysen Donahue & Tucker Deacon:

“It was my first day of biology lab freshman year. I had shown up to class right on time and the last seat open was saved for me by a friend I had made at orientation. Well…my friend ended up being in the wrong class. That left me next to Tucker, a senior that I only knew one thing about: that he was really cute! I was terrified and had the biggest crush on him. Every Tuesday, I wore my best outfits and looked good for lab. I still don’t think he liked me back at the time, although he’ll tell you he did. We were friends for about a year before he asked me on a date. Three years later, we’re both alumni and still going strong!”

Nicole Gramberg & Chris Clendaniel: 

“Chris and I met my freshman year, his senior year. He was the President of the Fishing Club. My roommate and I had attended the interest meeting in hopes of joining the club. The club went fishing and out to eat, and Chris and I started talking to one another after that. We went fishing on our first date and we will have been together for three years this upcoming fall!” 

Rich & Carolyn Smith: 

“Rich and I met during my senior year of college in the fall of 2008. Rich was initiating to Phi Sigma Pi, which I was already a member of at the time. He joined the co-ed honors fraternity and became my little (and I his big). We spent a lot of time together as big and little and found we had more of a connection than just being in the fraternity together. Once he became a brother, we started dating and have been together ever since. We were married in September of 2012 and have two boys. We still live in the area since we are both from York County originally. I now teach at the College in the Stabler Department of Nursing, and Rich is a math teacher at York County School of Technology.” 

Bridget & Landry Marshall: 

“I was a part of Greek Life (DPhiE) and Landry was on the Men’s Lacrosse team. One night out on Jackson Street, I fell in a basement and Landry picked me up! After that, I grabbed his number from someone in my sorority. From there we explored York together, going to Chipotle as our first date. We starting dating New Year’s Eve at a party in York in 2015. Landry came to all my Sorority events and I to all his Lacrosse games, home and away when I could! Almost 10 years later from knowing each other, we are married with two beautiful children. We were married August of 2021. Landry is now a Physician Assistant for the Navy and I a BPA for an insurance company. We couldn’t thank York enough for bringing us together and sharing some of the best years of our lives there. Go Spartans!” 

Michael & Chaley Bulla: 

“We lived in Northside Commons together sophmore year. He lived on the floor below me and he would come up to the 5th floor (my floor) to do homework in the common space, but actually in hopes he'd see me. We often crossed paths walking to and from the dorms. We dated a little bit that year, but our relationship really took off senior year. After graduation, we moved into an apartment together and the following January, we bought our first home. In 2020 we got married, and in 2021 we welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Jennifer, to the world. Jenny loves being on campus for events and to visit mama and her Spartan Swimmers!” 

Jason & Lacey Saurbaugh: 

“We met during summer mini-mester 1997. He didn’t have any utilities turned on in his West Jackson house he was sharing with the other YCP basketball team members.  My sorority sisters and I took pity on them and let them use our shower, I also made them food, so they kept coming back. The rest is is history: we have been married for over 20 years and have four beautiful daughters — one  is heading to YCP to play women’s lacrosse in 2024!”

Lori & Kevin Peterson: 

“We met the first week of freshman year 2001. We both lived in Beard Hall. We had mutual friends that were roommates at a college in NY that urged us to meet. We shared the same major and took many classes together. We graduated in 2005 and got married August 12, 2011 — 10 years after we met!”

Kristyn Bryfogle-Miller & Joshua Miller: 

“Josh and I met through the YCP Facebook page for incoming students. We chatted here and there throughout our senior years of high school, and finally met during Accepted Students Day. Not a normal meeting, as I didn’t see him until we were both in the bookstore that day. I was looking at the water bottles when he came over to say hi. I had asked him to get me a water bottle down off of a higher shelf and then he took off when he realized my parents were also near. Our chatting slowed down after that until we both started classes that fall, and it wasn’t until I was with a group of friends playing pool and he was sitting outside of Sparts Den that we started talking again. We have been together ever since and officially got married this past July! So thankful for York for giving me my person.”

Daniel and Emily Jones:

“In 2014, Dan was living in Brockie in one of the rooms with the window that looked into the room next door, above the front door, on the 4th floor. Emily was hanging out with friends in the room next door, when she and her friends noticed the boys were watching a movie. Emily and her friends thought it would be hilarious to try to ruin the movie by writing down the ending on a piece of paper and sliding it under the boys’ door. Although that wasn’t the day they met, it was the first time Dan and Emily interacted. Only a few days later, Emily and her friends noticed Dan and his friends were playing Mario Kart and wanted to join, so we knocked on the door and asked to play. From that day on, Dan and Emily were inseparable. Through graduation, long distance, multiple moves, a few jobs, and much more, Dan and Emily made life and their relationship work. They married in 2019 and now live in Hawaii with two beautiful little girls!”

Sydney & Michael Williams: 

“We met in Geography 101 during the spring of 2019! We were actually in the same program and had multiple classes together, but never realized until Geography Lab. We spent that summer in York taking summer classes, living on campus, and working in York. We started dating immediately once the semester started! We got engaged on October 24, 2022, and just got married on September 2, 2023! Thank you, York!”

Zach & Courtney Hossler: 

“We met our last week of freshman year while living in Manor South. Courtney attended Zach’s first home baseball start and they met later that evening through mutual friends. We stayed in contact after heading home for summer break and started dating a month after. We dated throughout the rest of college, did a bit of long distance and got engaged in June 2020. We married at Wyndridge Farm in York County on October 8, 2021 with lots of mutual friends from YCP by our side!”

Veronica Barone & Caleb Glass: 

“Caleb and Veronica met in the beginning of the 2013 spring semester, when they were both in a Stats I night class. They had a ton of friends in common but somehow still hadn't met yet. They partied, studied, and spent time getting to know each other. In spring of 2014, Caleb started to express that he had feelings stronger than just being friends. They slowly started to explore the idea of dating by going to each other’s formals during that spring semester. The day Veronica was graduating, Caleb asked her to officially be his girlfriend, which meant they would need to figure out how to make long distance work. Caleb was from the York area and Veronica grew up in North Jersey. They spent the next five years making long distance work while they completed graduate school and started their careers. In 2019, Caleb proposed to Veronica in her favorite place (Disney World) in front of their families! They then were married in 2021 and bought their first home in North Jersey, where they currently live with their new puppy Nala. They are very thankful that YCP brought them together!”

Ian & Stacey Parchen: 

“We met at Public Safety where we both worked. We were both Criminal Justice majors… We’ve been together for 17 years, married for 12 years and have two beautiful kids. We moved away to Maryland after college, but recently moved back to York.”

Henderson Fryer & Jacquelyn Bedsa: 

“Henderson and Jacquelyn were both biology majors in college and happened to sit near each other in Genetics class…Both were in relationships at the time and didn't have contact after this class ended until…Two years later in April 2013, both single, paths merged again. They chatted on the way to campus one afternoon, both remembering one another from years prior. Henderson gave Jacquelyn his number just as she was heading off. [Years later,] they had a birthday trip planned for Jacquelyn at the PA Grand Canyon in April 2021. Because the route passed through York, they decided to check out their campus, which they hadn't been back to since graduating. Little did Jacquelyn know, this was an intentional stop…Henderson proposed to Jacquelyn, giving her a ring at the very spot he gave her his number…Now, Henderson and Jacquelyn are settled in Ellicott City, MD, building their life together as scientists whose love and careers stemmed from YCP!”

Danielle & Calvin Rodriguez: 

“Our first weekend on campus, there was a tornado warning and we were mandated to stay indoors. Being the first class of freshmen in Northside Commons, we all gathered in the brand new common rooms to wait out the storm and get to know each other. Calvin…was wearing a NY Yankees t-shirt, which originally caught my attention. Being from Brooklyn, I was eager to meet fellow New Yorkers. We spent much of the evening chit-chatting and the rest was history. Our first date was to the York Fair and almost 14 years later, we have created a beautiful life with our two daughters.”

Tim & Monica Boldurian: 

“Monica and Tim met in the fall of 2008 while working together at the YCP bookstore. We shared our first date together at the Phillies World Series. It was very romantic, as we shared it with two million of our Phillies diehard friends and family. We have been together ever since and now have two beautiful children (Nate, 5, and Sophia, 1). We were both very active on campus, with Tim being the president of his fraternity (ZBT) and Monica playing softball. We both loved our time in Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Business organization on campus. We still go back to visit campus from time to time and keep in touch with many friends who have turned into family over the years. We also keep in touch with many of our teachers. Professor Chip Kauffman did a reading at our wedding. Tim’s cousin, Morrissey Walsh, graduated in 2023. YCP will always hold a special place in our families’ hearts.”

Justin and Katie Kilpatrick

"As two student athlete Alumni (Baseball and Basketball), we are so lucky to have met at YCP and found our very best friends who stood beside us on our biggest day this past September. Thank you, York!"