e l i WE MET @ X! m S
Editor’s Note: Leading up to Valentine’s Day 2021, the StFX Alumni Affairs Office hosted a heartwarming Instagram contest, celebrating alumni love stories that blossomed during or after their time at StFX. Couples submitted ‘then’ and ‘now’ photos and a short note on their relationship. These were profiled on StFX’s Instagram account and compiled into a video released on Valentine’s Day. Couples were also entered into a draw for matching StFX hoodies from the StFX store. Here, we share just a few of the stories received.
JAMES CORMIER ’81 AND ROSE (GARTLAND) CORMIER ’84 We met on Rose’s first day at StFX. I was the very first person she met (9:30 a.m. Sept. 3, 1980), and she didn’t enjoy the experience at all. I was on Orientation and she needed directions to the Mount, but I wouldn’t help her until she bought an Orientation t-shirt. She left with the shirt and a very poor impression of me. We saw each other during Orientation and around campus after that, and we had a number of friends in common. Those of us of a certain age will remember the Christmas Ball, and how the girls asked the guys to it. Rose asked me and I foolishly thought this was an expression of interest. It wasn’t. She was trying to encourage another girl to ask a particular guy to the Ball. As a result, though, I was dropping by the Mount more and more often, and the rest is history. And the t-shirt? She still has it. It’s the most expensive piece of clothing she owns; she’s still paying for it. Fun fact #1: The Blue Room in Lane Hall was where we had our first kiss. Since they are now demolishing the building, perhaps a commemorative plaque is in order. Fun fact #2: Exactly 26 years later, September 3, 2006, our son Michael started at X. ~ James Cormier
ED MCHUGH ‘79 & SHELLY (CULLIGAN) MCHUGH ‘80 I was the very first person she met at X in 1976. In those days, you were first greeted at Bloomfield by members of the Orientation Committee. I registered her. We did not realize this until years later when we were going through her X souvenirs and I noticed her name tag in my writing. We started dating in 1980 when she was in her final year of nursing and I was working at X in the Admissions Office! P.S. All she remembered from that first day was how handsome the other guy (Duncan MacIntyre) was, who was registering the M-Z people! I was registering A-L and she was a Culligan. She wondered if she could change her name to McCulligan! ~ Ed McHugh
SOPHIE PELTEKIAN ‘16 AND SARAH MACPHEE ‘16 ‘17 Sophie and I met in our first year at X (2012) when we lived on the same floor in Chillis House! In second year, we became very good friends, but it wasn’t until third year when these two Chillis Chicks realized they were more than friends. After several years of long distance pursuing further education, we are now living together happily in Ottawa and approaching our six-year anniversary. We’re so grateful to have met at StFX and for the wonderful memories we shared there. ~ Sophie Peltekian
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StFX ALUMNINEWS l SUMMER 2021
