From the UI to ‘I Do’: 16 Hawkeye Love Stories

“My husband and I met at Hawkeye games (he played trombone in the Hawkeye Marching Band, and I painted my body) which, of course, led to a cup of coffee. He proposed on the 50-yard line at Kinnick. Fourteen years later, we’re expecting our first little Hawkeye.” —Kelsey Lynch

“In spring 2017, Eric had just completed his first year in the MFA playwriting program, and Luke had just been accepted into the MFA in dramaturgy program. Our dear friend Molly, a dramaturg in Eric’s cohort and an undergrad friend of Luke’s, immediately set upon playing matchmaker for the two of us. Eric was intrigued by all the things Molly was telling him about this Luke, who was set to arrive next school year.

By the end of Luke’s first week in Iowa that August, we went on our first official date, which included a movie, dinner at The Mill (RIP), and dancing at Studio 13. That sealed the deal. Eric graduated in 2019, Luke in 2020, and we moved together to Brooklyn, New York, where we still live with our two cats.

We had a big wedding in 2022, attended by a dozen of our fellow Iowa grads, and our matchmaking friend Molly delivered a toast telling everyone, ‘You're welcome.’” —Luke White

“We went from prom dates to Iowa (Mayflower, The Vine, Fries, the Field House, etc.) and have been married 36 years and still going strong. We were just back in Iowa City a couple of months ago. Go Hawks!” —Jeff and Liz Shaffer

“I proposed to my wife in May 1991 on the balcony of the law school while attending my first year there. We are coming up on 35 years! ” —Michael Lahammer

“I was a freshman at UI in 1976 when I ran into a high school friend right in front of the Old Capitol and he introduced me to his roommate. I didn’t think much of it—until the next year when we met again at the Airliner. It was love at first sight, and we were married Aug. 18, 1979. Jack had just completed his first year at the Carver College of Medicine, and I began my first year five days after the wedding. Jack was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and I was a Delta Gamma.

We owe much to the University of Iowa and the citizens of Iowa for helping with our education. We have three children, now married and parents themselves. Our lives were made richer by our experiences in Iowa City—the diversity of thought, race, and socioeconomic status—and we support efforts to bring deserving students to the university based on the whole person.” —Suzanne Swanson

“We met in 2012 playing in the Hawkeye Marching Band. I played piccolo, and Nick played center snare in the drumline! We’ve been married nearly seven years and are Hawkeye fans through and through. We still live and work in the Iowa City area because we love it here so much.” —Laura Hensch

“We met in 1980 while we were both Old Gold Singers. We weren’t supposed to fall in love—I was engaged to someone from Drake! But … things happen! By 1981 we were married, and by 1987 we delivered the 13th set of surviving quintuplets in the United States. One of the first things the kids could say was, ‘Go Hawks!’” —Roz McGinnis Helms

“Met, fell in love, and got engaged at Iowa! We had our first date at the Java House downtown in 2014. Hawkeyes for life!” —Kelsie Smock-Carton and Christopher Carton

“Met at Giovanni’s on the Ped Mall in 2012. Got engaged outside the Rose Bowl stadium in 2015 where my parents crossed paths in 1982. We married in 2017 and have two boys.” —Teresa and Cody Krueger

“Dean and I met on a fall night in 1990 in Iowa City at a bar called The Fieldhouse, just steps from the heart of the University of Iowa. What began as an easy conversation turned into something we never expected. Dean walked me back to Stanley (my dorm, women only at the time), and when he got to his apartment that night, he told a friend he had just met the girl he was going to marry.

We fell in love at Iowa, growing together through classes, late nights, and shared dreams, and earned our degrees in May 1993. Two months later, we were married. Life first took us back to my hometown in Kansas, but Iowa called us home again, and three short years later we returned to raise a family where it all began.

Our love was grounded at UI and passed naturally to our three sons. We spent many falls attending football games with grandparents, walking campus, eating at Micky's, getting scoops at Whitey's, and soaking in the atmosphere that is Iowa City. Two of our sons followed the Hawkeye path, earning degrees from Iowa, while our youngest carved his own path at Iowa State University. It is a story of love, family, and roots that run deep, all beginning at our favorite place: the University of Iowa.” —Michele Zahradnik

“We met in 1966 in a summer English literature class and love having a whole family of Hawkeye lovers!” —Mary and William Richardson

“My husband and I met in ’92 when we both lived in Hillcrest. We never shared classes or the same side of the river, but we definitely shared the love for Iowa! Now we have three kids who love the Hawks almost as much as we do!” —Kelly McCoy Phillips

“My husband and I met as next-door neighbors on Dodge Street in 2013. We got married in 2020 and have two kids. Our daughter can spot a Tigerhawk a mile away and loves to say, ‘Go Hawkeyes!’” —Ellen Phelan

“My husband, Cormac Cannon, and I met freshman year at the University of Iowa in 1999. He proposed at the Utah State–Iowa football game on Sept. 21, 2002. We were married in June 2005.

We have loved cheering for the Hawkeyes wherever life has taken us. Once a Hawkeye...Always a Hawkeye! On Iowa forevermore!” —Laura Cannon

“We met in the weight room at Carver-Hawkeye Arena the fall of 1984. Mike was a baseball player for Duane Banks and I was a basketball player for Vivian Stringer. The rest is history! Married in 1988!” —Tammy and Mike Tschida

“I met my forever person, Kevin, before classes started my freshman year at Iowa. Our ‘love story’ started at band camp! We have been together since August 1992, when the Hawkeye Marching Band traveled to the Kickoff Classic in New Jersey. Two of our kids have graduated from Iowa, and one of them did a four-year stint in the HMB. We are black and gold through every layer of our being.” —Elaine Clothier-Mundt