Longhorn Love Is In The Air (Watch)

By Rebecca Fontenot in Blog, TXEX on March 4, 2011 at 8:28 am | No Comments

For many Texas Exes, The University of Texas was more than a place to get a world-class education, scream “Texas Fight” at games, and devour pepperoni rolls at all hours of the night — it was where they fell in love. 

There are no official statistics, but — since UT was coed from the start — it’s safe to say that many, many marriages between alumni began on the Forty Acres. The Alcalde hears about some of these in the wedding announcements when they’re submitted to Alumni Notes, and we got to wondering about the stories behind these burnt-orange couples. So we asked you to send in your Longhorn love stories, and you responded enthusiastically!

Bob Sharpless told us about attending Round-Up in 1941 and seeing Gloria O’Bar crowned Sweetheart of UT. “I told my roommate I was going to ask Gloria for a first date and someday I would marry her,” he said. “Sixty-seven years later, we are still happily married.”

Melissa James vividly remembered meeting her husband. She was late to her first class on the first day of freshman year and was mortified when she entered at the front of the classroom. “I could feel the eyes of Texas upon me,” she said. In fact, she did catch the attention of a boy with “amazing blue eyes.” Donnie invited her to lunch after class, and the two married in 1983. 

The boys weren’t always the ones to make the first move, though. Brittany Lopez said she crushed from afar on her now-hubby Harold. When an elementary-style note-passing scheme (“My friend thinks you’re cute…”) didn’t pan out, she and her friend Toni decided to bring technology into the mix. Within 24 hours, a Facebook message led to texting led to a first date.

These and 16 other of our favorite tales made it into the “Longhorn Love Stories” feature in the March|April issue of The Alcalde. The couples represent every decade of graduation, from the 1930s through the 2000s. One pair is engaged to be married this summer and another, John and Charlotte Henderson, just celebrated their 71st anniversary — and they dated for five years before marrying. Hear the Hendersons tell a bit of their love story in the video below. 

We just couldn’t let the warm, fuzzy feeling fade away after publishing The Alcalde feature, so we put more stories online and made it easy for our readers to submit their own. Check out the new Texas Exes Stories tool on our website to read about Jenny and Daniel Mojica’s first date to Jester cafeteria while Daniel was on duty as an RA or about Meredith McEntire trying to set up all her sorority sisters with her friend Mark before realizing he was actually the perfect guy for her. Then tell us your story and convince your friends and family to share theirs. We really can’t get enough of them.

To inspire you even more, watch the love between Kay and Rusty Allman that is still effervescent 44 years after they wed. Who would guess that Rusty picked Kay out of the Cactus yearbook?  

Didn’t find love on the Forty Acres? How about love for your university? We want to hear about that too! Read and submit other stories about Exes showing their pride and becoming Life Members of the Texas Exes.

Illustration by Linda Helton.