Can you hear the wedding bells ringing? All over the country, and even right here at Goddard Chapel, Tufts alumni are saying their vows in true Jumbo style. They are painting the cannon in celebration, old college roommates and friends are flying in for the occasion, and their former a capella groups are singing at their morning-after brunches.
Some couples find love during their time on the hill, and others begin their relationship years after graduation. Either way, sharing the Tufts experience has been the foundation for many fulfilling relationships.
"You trust people that share your experiences, whether you have the same job, or went to the same school," Julie Kim (E 98) said. Kim met her fianc?©, Larry Kwon (LA 99), in the summer of 2002 at a bar in New York City. While she had not known Larry during her time at Tufts, she recognized him and approached him. They have been dating ever since and plan to marry in October of 2005.
Amy Birnbaum (LA 97) met her husband Adam Klein (LA 94) at Tufts because they sang together in the Amalgamates a capella group. They did not start dating, however, until after Adam had graduated from Tufts and Amy was a senior.
Birnbaum believes that sharing a campus, and especially sharing extracurricular activities, is a great way to meet people. "At college you are surrounded by people who are motivated and who share your interests," she said. "You take for granted all the people around you that match you intellectually."
"One thing I noticed right away when I came to Tufts is that for any possible interest, there is always a club for it," agreed freshman Ted Pei, a member of the Amalgamates. "It makes it easy to meet people with your exact interest - it breaks the ice for you."
Many Tufts students believe that Tufts' size is ideal for meeting and getting to know people. "Although Tufts has over 4,000 undergraduate students, I still feel like I am part of a close-knit community," freshman Sari Haime said. "Every time I meet someone new, we have at least one person in common, so it is easy to make connections."
As a mid-sized school, Tufts is not so small that everyone knows each other by the first week of freshman year, but at the same time, it's not so big that it is overwhelming. According to Birnbaum, Tufts is the perfect size, and there are "enough people to get lost in, but not so big that you get too lost - you can find that perfect niche."
Many Tufts couples choose to get married right here on the Tufts campus. Rev. David O'Leary, University chaplain, presides over many of these weddings and understands why so many alumni choose to wed at Goddard Chapel.
"It's such a beautiful space, full of fond memories of the campus," he said. "This building is the center of campus."
Weddings at Goddard are often accompanied by a wedding announcement painted on the cannon. Married couples can also renew their vows at Goddard Chapel. This tradition began two years ago during the Commencement ceremony, and due to popular demand, many couples now renew their vows on the first Saturday of every month.
Many of those who do not bring their weddings to Tufts often bring Tufts to their weddings by inviting old college friends. Birnbaum and Klein - who married in Dobbs Ferry, New York - invited many of their old Tufts friends. They even arranged to have their a capella friends sing at the brunch the following morning.
Kim and Kwon will also have many Tufts guests at their wedding in October. While there will also be friends and family from outside of Tufts, Kim suspects that it will be the Jumbos who will stay up until five in the morning celebrating.
Kim and Kwon also plan to announce their marriage in the wedding section of Tufts Magazine, the alumni publication. It is becoming increasingly popular to place wedding announcements in the magazine, and many alumni tune in to each issue to see which of their old college friends are tying the knot.
For current Tufts students, they see why Jumbos marrying Jumbos is such a popular concept. "I could see myself marrying someone I met at college because there are a lot of girls at Tufts who came here for the same academic and emotional reasons I did," freshman Matt Chan said.
