Bill and Emily Burns fondly remember making walks across campus into romantic retreats and eating Valentine's Day dinner on a tight budget at area restaurants when they were MSU students.
"We have so many fond memories of campus," said Emily Burns, a 1995 graduate. "We definitely loved going to football tailgates and other sports games."
The two met and fell in love at MSU and were married in 1999.
As far as keeping their romance alive, Emily Burns said a trip back to campus always puts that youthful feeling back into play.
"We weren't romancing it up in East Lansing, but we definitely had romantic moments on campus walking around," she said laughing. "Especially when the weather was nice during spring term, and it was like a vacation; but I guess we should have been studying more."
Their love and appreciation for campus didn't stop when they graduated. Even though they don't have children yet, they adopted a dog and named it Izzo, after the men's MSU basketball head coach.
"We haven't kissed at Beaumont Tower, but maybe we should try to do that," she said. "We have a long future together so we should run over there."
Women's studies sophomore Erin Tripp and her girlfriend, Amy Field, an East Lansing resident, haven't experienced a kiss in front of the tower either.
Field said she wouldn't be opposed to trying it. The couple will hang out today for Valentine's Day. They celebrate their love every day, so the holiday isn't much different, Field said.
Sometimes, Field said, it's good to just be alone and just talk. Field and Tripp said they don't need a lot of money to be happy with each other; they just enjoy simple gifts.
"She writes notes. They're love notes," Field said.
"They are not love notes!" Tripp responded.
Before Wharton Center was built at Bogue Street and Wilson Road, Sue Neumann would brave the cold trek across the once-desolate area to see her boyfriend.
Frozen-to-the-bone but warm with affection, the 1979 graduate says she fondly remembers walking from her Hubbard Hall room to Case Hall to see her future husband, Dan Neumann.
"One of the best parts of being at MSU was walking across the tundra to see each other in the bitter cold," Sue Neumann said. "And sometimes we'd drop off little notes in each other's mail boxes."
Sue Neumann married 1978 graduate Dan Neumann at the Alumni Chapel on Sept. 9, 1978. Now living in Midland, the couple has three children. Their oldest child attends MSU.
"How can you beat getting married at MSU in the chapel with the Red Cedar behind you?" she asked.
Staff writer Aaron Foley contributed to this report.
