CCNY Celebrates Valentine’s Day 2026 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. This year, we’re highlighting couples whose connections began on campus and grew into something special. Enjoy these new stories and feel the love!

 

An Office Romance Continues to Bloom

In the summer of 1969, CCNY track and field star David Schmeltzer was working in the on-campus NCAA Summer Youth Sports Program for neighborhood children. One day, strolling into the office, he spotted a high school-aged reading tutor named Betty Rosa. Smitten, the young athlete persuaded some co-workers to introduce him to her.

The budding romance faced hurdles from the start.

“My mother objected,” said Dave. “Betty’s parents were Puerto Rican and mine were Jewish. Back then, those types of unions stood out. We later found out that my father’s sister married a Puerto Rican. When Betty first saw my uncle, she said, ‘he’s Puerto Rican.’

They also lived at opposite ends of the city: David in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, and Betty in Wakefield, the Bronx. “Maybe our love needed to be pretty strong in order to survive the obstacle of distance,” said Dave. “CCNY was the middle ground, so to speak.”

Dave graduated in 1971 with a degree in physical education and, in 1972, with a master’s degree in health education. Holder of the College's records in the 50- and 120-yard high hurdles, and the javelin throw, he coached the Beavers’ outdoor track team in the 1970s and was inducted into the CCNY Athletics Hall of Fame as an athlete and a coach in 1980. He is now CEO of Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds, Inc.

Betty graduated in 1974 with a degree in psychology, then earned her master’s degree in education administration and supervision in 1980. She went on to attain another master’s degree in bilingual education from Lehman College, and master’s and doctoral degrees in education from Harvard University. She is now the New York state commissioner of education and the president of the State University of New York.

As super-achieving executives, how do they manage to keep their love alive after more than half a century, one might ask. Dave has a ready answer for that.

“True love creates the strongest of bonds, hence our marriage of nearly 53 years continues with the same level of excitement as it had when we walked to classes along Convent Avenue during our years at CCNY,” he said. “Every day, with her, something happens.”

Blossoming Love Over Billiards in the Lounge

Tajake Aird may not have thought of himself as a pool shark, but the chemical engineering freshman discovered the pool table in Sophie Davis Student Lounge during his first semester in 2010, going every chance he could get. One day, political science sophomore Tahina Juste, who would regularly inhabit the lounge to study, got up the nerve to ask some of the men to teach her to play.

“That day, she saw a group of male students playing and she noticed one with a big smile on his face and always laughing—which turned out to be me!” said Tajake. “She approached us and asked if we could teach her. We obliged and we introduced each other. The time we spent playing, we felt an instant connection that we would become great friends and, over time, we did.”

The two became inseparable, walking around campus and hanging out in the lounge, the computer lab, the cafeteria, and the library, where study sessions would devolve into naptime. The best friendship remained strong despite Tajake’s moving to Canada in 2020. The telephone calls were frequent and friendly enough but, after two years apart, the relationship evolved into something more intense when Tajake travelled to New York to visit family and friends – including Tahina.

“We would spend time with each other along with another one of our friends, like we usually do when I lived in New York City,” he said. “But, when I saw her for the first time, the feelings I felt after that phone call all came back but 10 times more. I never ended up telling her that day but, as time went by once I was back in Canada, our phone calls started to more active and we started to become more closer than ever. The time finally came when I opened up to her about my feelings and she did the same.”

Now, four years and numerous campus walks and library naps later – and after sampling Toronto’s West Indian cuisine, followed by a trip to Niagara Falls the next day during Tahina’s whirlwind visit to Canada in August 2022—Tajake is now “ready to propose to my best friend, my partner, my confidant, my better half, and my love of my life.”

 

Love on the 11th Floor…But Not at First Sight

At the start of the fall 1951 semester, sophomore student-athlete Jerry Domershick ‘54 headed downtown to City College’s School of Business and Civic Administration (now Baruch College) to take a required course in sociology. Walking out the door after this first class, he encountered fellow student Terri Tendler. That first meeting was not an auspicious one. Upon leaving this class, Terri asked Jerry,

“Are you the captain of the basketball team?” to which Jerry replied, “yes.” Terri then said, “I thought you were dumb,” and walked away.

The story could have ended there, but didn’t, as the two kept running into each other in the 11th floor lunchroom of the 15-story vertical campus. During one of these encounters, Jerry asked Terri, “Why did you call me dumb?”, to which she replied, “I didn’t call you dumb; I said, I thought you were dumb.”

Over time, the two took walks in the neighborhood, especially in nearby Gramercy Park. Terri started to attend Jerry’s basketball games. On their first real date, the Brooklynites saw the movie Shane, then went out to eat at Junior’s. As the relationship progressed, Terri asked Jerry about the status of the relationship. She received unwelcome news.

Jerry told her that he had been drafted by the NBA’s Milwaukee Hawks and signed a contract to play under their legendary coach, Red Holzman ‘42. After a few months, Jerry was dropped by the Hawks and returned home. He then got inducted into the army. Following his military discharge, he saw Terri, who told him, “okay, no more excuses – we're getting married.” They married in 1955 at the Park Manor Catering Hall in Brooklyn.

Jerry worked as a certified public accountant for five years before getting his master’s degree in education from Long Island University. He then taught accounting for 25 years at Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn. One day, he received a call from another CCNY basketball great, Nat Holman, asking him to join the College’s basketball coaching staff.

The only three-time basketball captain in CCNY history (1951-54), Jerry accepted and coached the freshman team for 13 years under head coach and fellow CCNY Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Polansky.

During this time, Terri and Jerry raised three children, and Terri returned to school to get her master's degree in library science from Long Island University. After attaining her degree, Terri taught and ran the library programs at Woodmere Academy for more than 30 years.

Jerry and Terri were married for 63 years, until Terri passed away in 2018.