Lifelong NYU Loves Share Their Stories

Roses are red. Violets are blue. Alumni prove that love lasts long at NYU!

In last fall’s issue of Alumni News, we asked if you met your special someone at NYU and encouraged you to share your story of how it happened when sparks first flew. Many of you wrote in and e-mailed — congratulations to all for making love last at NYU! Here are some of the stories we received:

From: Arlene Robins (Steinhardt ’58)

“Not only can I relate a lasting love from NYU, I can tell you about three lasting loves that involve six NYU alumni. We are three couples who met at NYU, married, and remained everlasting friends.

Arlene and Burton Robins	Josephine Conforti and Vincent Lamorgese

The University cafeteria on Washington Square was where love was initiated and nurtured. The Korean War had ended, and many of the returning soldiers enrolled in college. It was there that I met my ex-G.I. Burton Robins (Steinhardt ’58, ’60). Vincent Lamorgese (Steinhardt ’58, ’60), also an ex-G.I., met and fell in love with Josephine Conforti (Steinhardt ’58) at the cafeteria, too. Meryl Sachs (Steinhardt ’58), who handed out registration cards for classes, was courted by Joel Sachs (Steinhardt ’57).Yes, the same last name! Josephine and Vincent married first. A few months later Meryl and Joel were married, and to everyone’s surprise a few days later, Burt and I eloped.

Our friendships and love have flourished over the years. We recently attended our 45th reunion. We were honored with gifts celebrating our love and marriage and the unique part that NYU played in all of our lives. Yes, we owe a great deal to NYU!”

From: Patrick O’Reilly (STERN ’91)

“I was living in Hayden Hall my freshman year in 1987. Young Ah Kim (WSUC ’91), aka Sue, was visiting a friend in Hayden during the first week of classes. Sue was a commuter student from northern New Jersey and had free time between her classes. She decided to visit another friend in Hayden Hall named Pat. She knew that Pat lived one floor away, but couldn’t remember if it was upstairs or downstairs. She decided to try going one flight up, and when she got to the 4th floor and knocked on the door, I answered.

She said, “Is Pat here?”

“I’m Pat,” I said.

She said, “You don’t look like Pat.”

That is how we met, pure fate.

We eventually dated and got married. We have been together for over seventeen years and married for nearly fourteen. We thank NYU for bringing us together!”

From: Sylvia Friedman (STERN ’46)

Arthur and Sylvia Friedman

“In 1942, at what was then called the School of Commerce (now the Stern School of Business), a 16 year old girl who was just starting college sat in her General Psychology class every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00-11:00 AM. Next to her sat a tall handsome man. Her requirements for a man were very simple—tall and handsome. He fit the bill.

In 2007, we’re still together and in love after 63 years.

I always wonder what would have happened if I took Psych on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

From: Tracie Clayton (WSUC ’85)

“I met Peter Hom (WSUC ’85) in 1983 when we were both on the board of the Washington Square and University College Student Service Organization. We became friends at first but were soon too distracted to study while we sat together in Bobst Library. One time we were even reprimanded by a security guard in Loeb Student Center for public kissing. In 1984, shortly after we became engaged, we adopted a black and white kitten on 8th Street, near University Place. We named him Scrap, short for Scrap-of-a-Cat. In 1986, we married. I am the author of To Love and To Work, a contemporary women’s novel. My second book is currently in the works. Scrap died in 2004, having lived to be 20 years old. Love that begins at NYU really does last.”

From: Thunder Levin (TSOA ’85)

Debbie Valenta and Thunder Levin

“It was October of 1984. I was a senior in the undergrad film & TV department in the newly renamed Tisch School of the Arts. I worked in the Sight & Sound office and one of my co-workers was a shy New Jersey girl, a film major herself. Her name was Debbie Valenta (TSOA). She was unusual right from the start because she didn’t make a joke when she learned my real name was Thunder. I’d just been dumped by the girl I’d been dating for a couple of weeks, and was looking for someone to accompany me to a screening at the Loeb Student Center of The Empire Strikes Back. It turned out Debbie was a Star Wars geek just like me! Our first date was that screening on Oct. 30, 1984, and we’ve been together ever since. She was a production assistant on my student film that year, and moved to L.A. with me in 1986.

For nearly 20 years, we lived together “in sin,” and on Oct. 30th, 2004, on the 20th anniversary of that first date at NYU, we finally got married! We don’t have any kids yet, but we do have a cat named Tiki.

To add to the NYU flavor, my best “man,” Sarah Bloom (TSOA ’86), and her husband David Bloom (TSOA) are also from NYU. We all met at the same time. They had their first date the day after ours! David and Sarah have been married 20 years now. They live in Virginia with their two kids Naomi and Joseph. So, it’s really TWO NYU love stories in one!”

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