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Alumni
2024 Alumni Love Stories
USF holds a special place in the hearts of many alumni, but for some Dons it’s the very place where they would meet the person who would capture their hearts, forever.
In honor of Valentine's Day, we present the love stories of five alumni couples who met right here on our hilltop campus.
Chris Glassy ’75 and Eric Glassy ’72
Chris and I met in 1968 in the Green and Gold Room at the University of San Francisco. I was a pre-med senior and Chris was a first-year in the [School of Nursing and Health Professions]. It was a chance encounter. I was a teaching assistant in anatomy for the first year nursing students. We started chatting and a few weeks later I asked Chris out on a date—dinner at the Basque Hotel (all I could afford at the time) followed by ice cream at Raskin-Flakkers. I was pretty much the prototypic nerd—quiet and introverted. Chris was the complete opposite—outgoing, upbeat, with wonderful social skills. We proved, at least in our case, the adage, “opposites attract” was true. We explored San Francisco and lived there during the farm-workers strike, Vietnam War protests, and at the Haight-Ashbury heyday.
We dated for four years and married my fourth year of med school at UCSF in 1976. We moved down to Los Angeles when I started a residency in pathology. Chris worked as a nurse in the neonatal ICU at a community hospital.
What did it teach us about love? Differences make the bond stronger. We’ve been married 48 years, have two children and four grandchildren. We’re proud of them all. I look back fondly on that first serendipitous encounter in the Green and Gold Room where I found my life mate.
-Eric Glassy
Julia Akpan ’00 and Ottobong Akpan ’02
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My husband, Ottobong Akpan and I met at USF in the fall of 1998.
I was the resident advisor and helped first-years check into the dorm, and he was the last one to check in for the day. We started dating in January of that year and he even came back early from winter break to keep me company during the empty mid-January campus.
My dad, Everette Erser MBA ’95, worked at USF for 30 years and was the chief engineer. All of the engineers and landscapers around campus knew me and also knew who I was dating. They would check in on them on occasion. Tom and Cindy, two of the landscapers, once told me they had seen Otto head up to the Lone Mountain building and wanted to make sure he had a class up there and that he wasn't seeing someone else!
Otto’s roommate from his senior year has just moved into a house just a few blocks away from us. We’ve now been married for 17 years and we’ve officially been together for 25 years. We have two teenagers, one of whom is planning on applying to USF.
-Julia Akpan
Christopher Porras ’15 and Kristen Porras '16
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My parents and my sister all met their life partners at USF, and so did I!
My husband, Christopher Porras '15, and I met in the cafeteria back in the fall of 2012 when I was a first-year year. We had totally different schedules and were different majors so we didn't see each other too often but when we did, we always made a point to stop and talk. There was always a soft spot in our hearts for each other and it's crazy to think I was talking to my husband the entire time without truly knowing yet.
Our love blossomed a few years after I graduated from USF when we began texting again. Regardless of being long distance, Christopher asked me on a date and I said “yes.”
From there, our love grew quickly and I knew he was my soulmate by the third date. We've been together for almost five years and have been married for almost two. Love is a crazy thing because you never know when you will find it and when you do it's so beautiful to find your lifelong partner. I am blessed I found my husband and partner in life at USF and am blessed to be experiencing the many journeys of life with him.
-Kristen Porras
Camille Demman ’19 and Kyan Sharshari ’19
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I met my soon-to-be wife during my first year at USF. We were both kinesiology majors and had some classes together. We were friends at first, and we were both in Greek life. I did not start dating her until the summer going into our junior year. We have been together since then. We both have a similar sense of humor, we love taking care of others, we enjoy being active and going outside, but also love our movie nights in our apartment. We ended up both pursuing a career in nursing, so we both went to nursing school together in Phoenix, Arizona. After graduating we did long distance until 2022, then moved in together in San Diego, and last year I asked her to marry me. We plan on getting married in October of this year!
My experience has taught me that love does not always come at first sight, but rather the first time you see each other for who you are. Sometimes it is built through the experiences that you have with others. Love comes in all different ways, and love grows with time.
-Kyan Sharshari
Casey Farmer ’07 and Galen Wilson ’07
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Galen Wilson swept me off my feet in 2003 when we were first years and both living in Gilson Hall. We were out with a big group of students one night and I was enamored by his wit and charm on that foggy November night. Our first date was a marathon: a few loads of laundry (so romantic!), a performing arts and social justice play about Harvey Milk, a USF men’s basketball game, followed by dinner at Mel’s Diner.
Galen transferred from USF to play tennis at Goucher College in Maryland for sophomore year, but he ended up transferring back for me, USF, and the great friends he had made on the Hilltop. We later both served as president and treasurer of ASUSF Senate and our intramural kickball team would go on to take the championships twice. We both worked as teachers in Oakland through the Teach for America program and have been proud Oaklanders since 2008.
In 2020, we grew our family by adoption, welcoming Amaya and Jaden, and we recently celebrated 20 years together.
-Casey Farmer
