CCNY is celebrating Valentine's Day 2024
with new love stories.

Love is in the air! In honor of Valentine’s Day, City College continues its tradition of celebrating CCNY love stories. We are featuring two lovely couples who met and found love at City College. Enjoy the new stories and feel the love!

Susan and Stewart Alpert

"Kismet on Convent"

Eleven years, two degrees, and two careers after graduating from City College, Stewart Alpert decided that he wanted to forsake law practice to become a medieval history professor. He demurred upon discovering that he had to learn Latin and Greek. 

“I couldn’t even pass Spanish” as a first-term language requirement at City College in the fall of 1958, he said. Fortunately, chance seated him next to a long-haired, black tights- and skating skirt-clad freshman named Susan Zimmer. “I cheated off her,” he said.

“When the Spanish professor seated us alphabetically, I was in the back of the classroom,” said Susan. “I asked her to change my seat to be closer to the front so I could see better. The guy I was sitting next to was cute; he was wearing paint-splattered jeans and looked very Bohemian. I thought maybe he was a painter.” (He worked in his father’s electrical contracting business).

After “a week of small talk and smiles,” the 16-year-old Stewart, fresh from graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, told the older woman, who was all of 18, that he was going to marry her.
 
“Marry me!” Susan recalled responding. “I have to go out with you first, and that is not happening till you are 17.”

They started dating two months later. “He was adorable and romantic,” she said. “We were in love.” 

On Sept. 7, 2023, Stewart and Susan Alpert celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. To commemorate their romance, their daughter, Dani, donated a plaque that stands in front of the Spitzer School of Architecture.

Jack and Rhoda Resnick

"A Chance Encounter"

Jack Resnick remembers the near-fatal accident that changed his life and that of his beloved Rhoda.

On Christmas Eve 1966, the DC-8-51 carrying the couple and 107 other passengers crashed on the dry Lake Texcoco while approaching Mexico City. The damaged aircraft “opened like a can behind the wing,” said Jack, with the force of the impact ejecting them into a fuel-soaked mud bed. They lay near the smoldering wreckage, helpless and in pain, for four hours until they were taken to a nearby storefront clinic. They laid on a terrazzo floor for another eight hours before being transferred to a Mexico City hospital. Jack was treated for a broken collarbone, a broken sternum, broken ribs, and missing teeth, his eyes sealed shut from lying in the toxic sludge. He did not recover his sight until three weeks later. Rhoda suffered from several compressed vertebrae.

When they returned home to New York almost a month later, “we vowed to live life to the fullest,” said Jack.

Have they ever. In their three quarters of a century together, Jack estimates that they have visited most of the world, traveling to remote villages in Africa, the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, as far north as Lapland and the North Pole, and as far south as the Straits of Gibraltar. They have each enjoyed fulfilling careers, raised two successful children, are proud grandparents of three, great grandparents of three, and owned homes in Montauk and Yucatan, Mexico, as well as their current residence in Manhattan.

It all started at the flagpole at the center of the City College campus one February night in 1947. Jack, who was studying civil engineering, met up with a friend who was accompanied by a pretty freshman, Rhoda Brodowsky, a member of City College’s first female class. The smitten junior asked the younger coed, who also happened to be from the Bronx, to an on-campus House Plan the following night. The next night, they went to a movie at the Paradise Theater on Fordham Road.

The couple broke up after a year and a half at the insistence of Rhoda’s mother, who feared that it was not serious. Then, fate intervened.

The summer after Jack’s graduation in 1948, the two spotted each other on a train platform. Resuming their relationship, they became engaged that fall and married on May 21, 1950 in the ballroom of the Paradise Theater, the site of their second date.

Rhoda left college to plan the wedding, but subsequently returned to City College, earning her education degree in 1960. She taught at P.S. 196 in Forest Hills, Queens before obtaining a master’s degree in counseling from Queens College and, eventually, becoming a state certified psychotherapist. She retired in 1985. 

She then studied bridge, golf and boating, and the pair continued to travel the world until 2010, when she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on one side of her body. 

Despite the onset of dementia five years ago, “she still remembers me and we hold hands every night as we watch Jeopardy!” said Jack.

Jack retired for the third and final time in June 2022, at the age of 92, after multiple successful careers as a construction executive. In December 2003, they endowed The Jack & Rhoda Resnick Scholarship, which provides support to two qualified students annually at CCNY. One recipient is selected from the Grove School of Engineering’s Department of Civil Engineering, and one from the School of Education. 

“We always felt that, without City College, we would not have been able to attain the successes which gave us the ability to live the life that we have had,” said Jack.

It all goes back to that chance meeting at the flagpole, near which is an engraved stone. It reads: “Thank you City College from Rhoda and Jack Resnick."

Read More Love Stories That Were Featured on Valentine's Day 2023

Anna and Jemaal Alexander

Anna CCNY ‘17 & “22, Jemaal CCNY 2015
 
Anna and Jemaal Alexander met at the City College of New York in 2014 as fellow student athletes on the soccer and track and field teams, respectively. They had a few mutual friends and would run into each other in the hallways, gym, and occasionally on subway platforms.
 
Jemaal messaged Anna on Facebook. “Hey superstar when’s your next home game?” Anna responded: “Oh no but you are the real track star, lol.” The flirting continued on Instagram when Jemaal commented on one of Anna’s selfies. He wrote: “Ah but tu pelo.” Anna did not know what to do with herself!! She thought, he freaking speaks Spanish too! Anna replied: “Feel free to touch anytime. Lmfao.” Jemaal smoothly responded: “You might regret saying that, but okay.”
 
Their friendship evolved into a real relationship at the end of 2015. At the time, Anna was an undergraduate student living in Queens. Jemaal was a recent graduate, employed full-time at a high school in The Bronx. They had to navigate their hectic school and work schedules. The distance between them included a commute of two hours on the F and D trains
 
There were many inconveniences and compromises. Nonetheless, love was a constant motivator. In June 2017, the groom earned his driver’s license. He immediately purchased his first vehicle. They said “goodbye” to a two-hour commute and “hello” to a thirty-minute drive and much more time to spend together.
 
Anna graduated CCNY in 2017 and dove right into teaching full time. Jemaal began graduate school that year. After Jemaal graduated, he opened has his own practice as a licensed mental health counselor. Anna became a middle school art teacher.
 
In 2019, after years of playing house part time at Jemaal’s apartment in The Bronx, the two finally moved into their own apartment in Queens. The two quickly became part of each other’s families and groups of friends.
 
The pandemic strengthened their bond. They spent almost every minute together, working from home and finding unique ways to be adventurous and safe simultaneously.
 
Jemaal proposed to Anna on bended knee on December 20, 2020, and Anna accepted.
 
A few joyful years later, the two prepared for their next chapter. They wed on July 23, 2022.
 
This month, February, 2023, Jemaal and Anna eagerly await the arrival of their biggest blessing yet: a baby girl.

Avanshika Bajaj

Avanshika Bajaj
CCNY Class of 2025

My love story began in October of 2021, when I met some of the most amazing girls! Since then, I've been able to expand my network. I’ve found those whom I not only relate to, but from whom I can also learn. I was able to find a community I could truly rely on, and that has always made me feel accepted. I am truly thankful for the amazing connections that I have been able to build. I never imagined I would be able to foster such connections in college.

Michael Chin

I come from a long legacy of CCNY graduates. The campus and all of its beauty is ingrained in my family’s hearts. My entire family fell in love with the attitude of openness that is an important aspect of a City College education. My  true love this Valentine's Day is not romantic. I am proud of City College. I am especially grateful this Valentines Day for The City Tutors.

The City Tutors is an organization founded by City College alum, Garri Rivkin, who understood the persistent obstacles students face, both personal and academic, hindering their studies. He believed if they were provided with enough assistance, these students would thrive academically.

He and several like-minded City College alumni created a no-cost tutoring service and made it available to any student in need. Rivkin’s passion for service attracted volunteers from all across New York City. Their dedication to educational opportunities inspires me. I am proud to be a graduate of The City College of New York. 
 

Kelly Nicoletto | CCNY 2022

 My partner and I met in 2017 when we were in our first year at the Spitzer School, sharing the same studio. We spent many sleepless nights working on projects at the school. Working together with other students, we became very close. Then he asked me out on a date, and we have been inseparable ever since. We moved in together last year and are now planning our future.

Armita Peirovani

We met at Spitzer school of architecture at CCNY, around 2017. After five years of dating, during the summer of 2022, my partner took me back to our old school and proposed to me on the roof of the architecture school where we first met! CCNY will always have a special place in our hearts!

Kenneth Reed

Ashlee and I met in psychology class. We were both majoring in Psychology. She sat in the back, and I in the front. We never spoke in person, but appreciated each other intellectually. After messaging on Facebook for a while, a few messages here and there, we learned that we both enjoyed working with kids and loved the summer camp life. Years later, at the onset of the pandemic, we found each other again. This time in finding each other, we found love. We now live together and have successfully blended our Brooklyn and Bronx families.

Briana Rosario

My love story involves having love for myself. There are moments in my life where I feel great about myself. I am able to appreciate qualities about myself such as intelligence, sensitivity, creativity, humor, kindness and thoughtfulness. I show respect to my physical beauty by taking care of my physical health. I experiment with my hair and clothes.

Nonetheless, I go through moments in my life where I have doubts about myself. These thoughts lead me to feel self-critical. I recall being bullied and rejected by family members. For a long time, I sought external validation. I need to feel I was good enough in their eyes. I deserve self-love, as well as love and respect from family, friends, romantic partners and the community. When I spend too much time inside my own head, it becomes difficult for me to recognize the love and admiration of others. Love for myself is a work in progress. 

Lorraine and Angel Sanchez | Class of 2025 

I met Lorraine in the Fall of 2019. One brief conversation and I already knew what I liked about her: her wit, her sense of humor, and the smile she smiled whenever she laughed. We grew close as friends and went for walks and out to eat. Then COVID hit. Video calls a couple of times a week became routine. As humorous and joyful as I am, I find it hard to open up, yet she taught me how to do it. Over the next few years, she organized my birthday celebrations and showed me what it meant to be a real friend. Lorraine is part of the reason I've matured the way I have. Today she is my partner and best friend. Every date and every meal are just as much fun as our first, when I asked her to help me in an architecture class, in exchange for some fries. Truthfully, I never really needed the help. I just wanted an excuse to talk to her. 

Anabel Santana

My love for learning began at City College long before I started attending. My aunt was a City College student when I was a little girl. Sometimes she would bring me with her to class. I was exposed to a whole new world because of those visits. Those memories motivated me to succeed while I attended high school and then community college. As of this Spring, I can call myself a City College student and continue to pursue my love for learning. 

Mikan Santiago
My year, 1996 + my Husband 1999 = our daughter 2022

My husband and I met on the first day of a summer class at CCNY. I was an incoming 17-year-old freshman and he had just finished his first year. We were both in the first generation in our families to attend university. Despite growing up just two blocks from each other in Washington Heights, we only met once we began attending CCNY. Thirty years later we are still together. In June of 2022, our daughter became our CCNY legacy when she graduated with a BA, summa cum laude, from The Colin Powell School. We are a proud CCNY family.

Muriel '47 and Sheldon Strauss '48 

In the CCNY Downtown library on Lexington Avenue in 1943 (or thereabouts), a fellow student and library co-worker suggested to Sheldon Strauss that he might like to meet Muriel Newman, who was sitting with a group of her friends nearby. Sheldon, following his friend’s gaze, decided he most definitely did want to meet Miss Newman. They began dating and their relationship became serious; before too long he was referring to her as “my Muriel.”
 
Muriel graduated in 1947; Sheldon, who was drafted into the Army during WWII, returned to graduate in 1948. They wed shortly after his graduation and started married life in Brooklyn Heights, eventually settling in and raising their son and daughters in Queens.
 
There was something in the water at CCNY in those years. Their close-knit group of friends included Harriet and Irving Mailman, Harriet and Elwyn Saviet, and Laura and Charles Weissbrod. All four couples met at CCNY and stayed lifelong friends.
 
Throughout their long lives, Muriel and Sheldon remained grateful for the educational and social opportunities they developed at CCNY.

John and Luce Tang

I met my love, John, in 2005 in the NAC Building by the benches near the cafeteria. He was handing out flyers for his band, announcing an upcoming show. He approached me with his last flier. I looked up from the book that I was reading. I was enamored with how sincere and respectful he was when speaking to me. After I took the flyer, I just wanted to keep the conversation going. I felt like there was a connection right away. I had recognized him from my high school. We had never interacted, but we had mutual friends. I wasn't sure he was interested in me so I decided to give my phone number to a mutual friend so he could call me to let me know of future shows.
 
I missed the opportunity to go to the first show because I had to study for an exam. Then I saw John again in the cafeteria. For the rest of the semester, he walked me to the lecture hall and carried my heavy organic chemistry book. For a while we hung out with our friends. Then we went out on dates on our own. After a few months, I knew he was the sweetest and kindest person. I knew I could be in a serious relationship with him.
 
Seven years after the day we became an official couple, he proposed and we became even more official. We took our engagement photos on the CCNY campus: the bench where we exchanged our first words, the NAC and the Quad. A year later, we got married. We've been happily married since.
 
CCNY has been associated with many of the happiest memories of my life. I became a better person at CCNY. I learned I had more potential than I thought. It is a place with great opportunities and great people. I hope everyone who attends CCNY leaves a better and kinder person. If you miss you first chance to improve, there will always be a second chance. Growth and improvement are always possible.

Tinnycua Williams
Vice Chair of Community Affairs for Graduate Student Council
The City College of New York

This year, I fell in love with being a part of the Student Council at City College. We take so many things for granted when attending a university like City College, we do not always fully realize the breadth of opportunity available to us. I was able to see first-hand the level of commitment and passion CCNY shows towards its students once I became involved in student government. I never imagined I’d be a part of this journey at CCNY. Now that I am, I’m overjoyed to be traveling this path.