FIU Lovebirds return to the university where they met

Marcel Navarro was sitting in Evolution of Jazz class 22 years ago when a girl slipped him a note. “Hi, I play guitar too,” it said. “Want to get together and make music?” Today, Marcel and Susana have been married for 15.

Justo and Sylvia Pozo met outside PC 326 during exam week in December 1979. He still remembers that she was wearing jeans and a yellow top. He says, “It was love at first sight.”

Jesse Leon remembers seeing Angela Puentes in the Graham Center and wondering, “How am I going to meet this girl?” A friend introduced them and today, they are part of a growing group of alumni we call “FIU Lovebirds,” couples who met at FIU or met elsewhere and discovered they have FIU in common.

President Mark B. Rosenberg welcomed more than a dozen FIU Lovebirds to the Reagan House last week to celebrate the lifelong relationships that have started at FIU. “We want to celebrate the love we have for our FIU and the love that develops among our students,” Rosenberg said.

The Valentine’s reception featured a lot of how-we-met memories, including the Rosenbergs’ story. President Rosenberg and his wife Rosalie are a “Miami Merger,” a marriage that started at Miami University of Ohio.

“I claim we met when were sophomores,” Rosenberg said. “Rosalie says we didn’t meet until we were seniors. So I don’t know what that tells you.”

The couples enjoyed three student performances and each wife was given a red rose.

–Deborah O’Neil