Celebrating #OrangeLove for Valentine’s Day

Marlana Shaw-Brown G’17, L’17 and Adam Shoshtari’s L’17 story began in their 1L year when a mutual friend introduced the two at a Black Law Student Association meeting. From that moment on, they were inseparable—but just friends. With graduation only a few short weeks away, Shoshtari was faced with the very real possibility of losing his best friend. After graduation, he was headed to Washington, D.C., and Shaw-Brown across the country to Los Angeles. As Shoshtari recounts, “I was falling in love with my best friend and could not imagine life without her.” To find out how their story ends, visit law.syracuse.edu.

Stacey Katz Friedlander ’99 and Michael Friedlander’s ’99 wedding on July 4, 2006, consisted of many Syracuse alumni guests, young and old.

Anna Blackwood ’23 and Chris Bezdedeanu ’23 met in the spring of their senior year of high school while touring Syracuse University and participating in the Maxwell Scholarship Competition. When they began their first year at Syracuse that fall, they happened to attend the same policy studies information session the Saturday before classes started. They reconnected at this event and Professor Bill Coplin took both of them into his office. The three talked for two hours about their goals at Syracuse and their future life plans. At the end of their conversation, Professor Coplin gave them an “assignment” and the rest is history.

Kathleen G’97 and Norman G’96 Forbush met at Syracuse while studying for their respective master of business administration degrees at the Whitman School of Management. They are pictured here on their wedding day on May 24, 1997.

Steve ’77, L’79 and Cindy Paquette ’79 met at Syracuse. Steve was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and Cindy belonged to their sister sorority, Chi Omega. Steve went on to attend law school at Syracuse and stayed involved with his fraternity. The couple stayed in Syracuse where they raised three daughters. Their eldest daughter also attended law school at Syracuse. The daughters were raised to bleed orange!

Caitlin (Mogan) McCleary ’20, G’22 and Joshua McCleary ’18, ‘G’22 met in the SU Athletic Bands in 2017 (Marching Band and Pep Band) and got married this past October surrounded by Syracuse friends and family.

Justina Hnatowicz ’19 and Peter Hartsock ’19 met in an animation class in the basement of the Shaffer Art Building in February 2017, fell instantly in love and got engaged on their anniversary last year. They are getting married in April 2024.

Despite Dwayne ’97 and Allison ’01 Murray both attending Syracuse, it wasn’t until they were both stationed in the military in South Korea that they met. Allison was a little skeptical at first when Dwayne told her he had also graduated from her alma mater. Upon producing his student ID card as proof the two realized just how much they had in common. Read their full story, along with some other fellow veteran love stories.

Sallie Goloski, accounting clerk for the Maxwell School, and her husband, Jim, at their engagement before their September wedding.

Marshall Read L’22 and Gabriella Kielbasinski L’22 met at Syracuse. For Read, love struck during their 1L fall class election when Kielbasinski confidently captivated the room with her campaign speech for class president. He remembers a clear-cut moment of realization: “Wow, it’s her! She’s it!” For Kielbasinski, however, it wasn’t a single defining moment. Instead, it was the “good morning” texts during their first year of law school, the reassurance during the anxious months of bar prep, and Read’s unwavering support during hard times that showed her what true partnership looked like. To read the rest of their story, visit law.syracuse.edu.