They grade their papers in red.

They print their syllabi in blue.

And they also tell each other, "I do."

Students aren't the only ones in class making a love connection. Some MSU professors have met and married their match on campus.

As Mutsuko Endo Hudson recalls, her future husband — linguistics Professor Grover Hudson — was wearing a yellow sweater when she interviewed with him for a position in the linguistics department.

"He had so many books, I couldn't figure out what he specialized in," said the associate professor of Japanese and linguistics, who came to MSU in 1989.

Grover was the associate chair of the department at the time and the chairperson wanted him to get together and talk with Mutsuko, who came in as the coordinator of the Japanese program, Mutsuko said.

"After the first day the chair wanted us to get together, I asked him what his hobby was, and he said, 'Linguistics,'" Mutsuko said. "I thought, 'What a boring guy.' But he plays tennis, he likes to travel ? He's lots of fun."

Grover was Mutsuko's faculty mentor, so when they began dating, they did so quietly.

"Before we were married, we were dating surreptitiously," Mutsuko said, with Grover adding that when they were together, "We were supposedly discussing the Japanese program."

Both professors worked late one New Year's Eve, and Grover invited Mutsuko over to his house to watch the Rose Bowl the next day, when their alma maters — the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Michigan, respectively — would be playing each other, Mutsuko said.

"I forgot who won the game," Grover said. "We didn't care."

The couple got married at the MSU chapel, in part because "MSU is what put us together," Mutsuko said.

The marriage surprised co-workers, she said.

"They were happy, but I remember one secretary saying, 'I thought so and so was interested in Grover,'" Mutsuko said.

Some members of the department embraced the couple so much that they used to argue over who should take credit for the marriage, Mutsuko said.

"One professor said he was responsible for us because he hired Grover, but the chair said she was responsible because she hired me," she said. "It's a very nice turf war."

The Hudsons have different schedules, but take the time to eat together, get coffee and sometimes catch a movie at Wells Hall.

"Because we work so hard in our respective offices, we're together, but not," Mutsuko said. "We're doing our own things."

Kelly Morrison and Steve McCornack, associate communication professors, know that at least they'll be together twice a week for an hour and 20 minutes.

The married couple has been teaching an interpersonal communication class together for about 10 years.

"We focus specifically on close relationships," Morrison said. "We thought that since we're in there, we can take them through attraction, love and relationship problems like deception, jealously and maintenance over time."

Teaching together provides a professional link and more time together, as well as allowing the couple to compare and learn from their different teaching styles, McCornack said.

"Personally, it added an additional admiration for the teacher Kelly is," he said. "I get to see her in action firsthand, and it has improved my teaching.

"There are things she does I don't like and some things she does, I think, 'Wow,' and both help me to learn."

The couple will often call upon personal examples to get a point across, Morrison said.

"For kids to see a somewhat functional relationship — clearly ours isn't a role model, but hopefully it's helpful to learn from our mistakes," she said.

The two met at the University of Illinois when McCornack was the teaching assistant for a relationships class Morrison ended up in.

"I signed up for the class with a different professor because I had friends who had taken the class with this one professor so I had all the notes," she said. "The professor knows his notes (circulate), so he purposefully switches his section.

"(McCornack) walks in, and I said, 'You're not what I signed up for.' We didn't really get along at the beginning."

But McCornack contends that a lobster brought the two together.

There was a class happy hour every Thursday when the relationships class would meet at a bar to talk and people watch, McCornack said.

One night, as the group dwindled down to four — including McCornack and Morrison — two members of the group got kicked out after stealing a lobster from the Chinese restaurant on the other floor and plopping in on the table in the bar, McCornack said.

"I walked Kelly home and, as they say, one thing led to another," he said.

The class has grown by word of mouth and provided another source of connection for the couple, Morrison said.

"We joke that it's the only time we see each other," she said. "That's not true, but sometimes it feels that way.

"You're really so busy it's neat to know that at least I get to see him from 10:20 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. twice a week."