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Heart to Heart: Alumni Love Stories
Heart to Heart: Alumni Love Stories
We asked BSC alumni couples to share their tales of romance, and we received dozens of interesting stories ranging from an introduction on a blind date to chance encounters—and all ending in lasting love.
They spanned eight decades and included couples who met on campus and knew right away, couples who fell for each other after graduation, and even late-life reunions that led to something more. Choosing just a few stories for publication was tough. Thank you for all your submissions!
Country boy meets city girl
Elton Stephens ’32 and Alys Robinson Stephens ’32 | Birmingham, Ala.
They met on the Hilltop—and their love profoundly changed it.
Elton grew up in the small Alabama town of Clio; at the age of 17, he followed his older brother, Harris—who played football at BSC—to Birmingham-Southern College. There he met Alys, who had grown up in Birmingham’s West End and who became “the love of his life.”
“My parents shared some classes, but I am not really sure when the boy from the countryside got the courage to ask out the girl from the big city,” said their son, BSC Trustee James T. Stephens. “But he found that courage, and they were a pair for at least the last couple of years of their time on the Hilltop.”
Both were active on campus. Alys, an English major, was a member of the
Amazons Club for women and served as secretary of the senior class. Elton,
an economics major, served as business manager
Tau Omega fraternity, where he found a lifelong friend in Buford Word, who became a beloved obstetrician in Birmingham. Word invited him to join a magazine subscription crew the summer between their first and sophomore years and convinced him to hitchhike to the upper peninsula of Michigan to sell magazines door to door. Elton joined the crew, did well, and worked his way through college.
Meanwhile, Elton had serious competition for Alys, who was receiving mail from a number of suitors between graduating from college and getting her first job in Birmingham. He and Alys saw each other as often as possible after graduation. She got a job with an insurance business, and he traveled as a sales manager before starting law school. After a brief post-BSC courtship, the couple married at her home on Thanksgiving Day in 1935.
Elton went on to found EBSCO Industries, and he and Alys left a legacy with their philanthropic endeavors, including BSC’s Elton B. Stephens Science Center and UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
“My parents always had a very strong appreciation for the college,” Jim said. “They knew they attended a school where academics were respected. They made friends they kept for life. I and my three siblings owe BSC for putting together our parents and, therefore, ‘us as we are!’
A rose by the same name
Roger ’10 and Briana Williams ’10 | Hoover, Ala.
Roger and Briana’s families met first, bonding over their shared last name during fall orientation in 2006. Their parents introduced them outside the Norton Campus Center.
“My first thought was ‘wow, she’s beautiful,’” he said. “We spoke briefly, and she was extremely nice, but when I found out we shared the same last name, I had to renege on my thoughts until I could conclude that we weren’t distant relatives.”
Roger, an accounting major, and Briana, a psychology major, remained friends throughout their first semester and began dating at the end of their first January term. Four years after graduation, the couple got engaged, purchased their first home, and were married. Roger is a CPA and audit manager at Warren Averett and Birmingham Business Journal’s 2016 Rising Star of Accounting. Briana attended graduate school at the University of Alabama and is a licensed master social worker at JBS Mental Health Authority. They are celebrating their newest milestone: the February birth of their first child, Zoey.
Throughout their time on the Hilltop, Norton remained their favorite spot – and not just because it was where they first met.
“It was always filled with a diverse group of people and organizations,” Briana said. “We truly enjoyed our time at BSC. We developed great relationships with many professors and staff members, and the friendships that we made continue to grow stronger today.”
Connecting in the city of angels
Dr. Jim Blackburn ’68 and Martha Hayes Blackburn ’68 | Palm Springs, Calif.
The
“But our alma mater changed all of that when then-President Dr. Neal Berte and then-Vice President for Development George Jenkins decided to host a Los Angeles alumni event during the early ’90s,” he said.
Each single in a city famous for romances, they decided to attend the event, which just happened to be at a hotel overlooking the backlot of 20th Century Fox.
“It really was a ‘what have you been doing for 25 years; let’s do lunch moment,’” she said.
After a year and a half of courtship, the couple married in BSC’s Yeilding Chapel on Feb. 27, 1994. Rev. Dr. Mike Harper ’68 officiated, and Audrey Ann Prude Wilson ’68 directed the wedding. The Blackburns now live in Palm Springs; he is retired from California State University as system-wide director of enrollment management, and she continues her long-term practice of psychotherapy. They have one daughter.
“We travel—occasionally with fellow members of the Class of ’68— play golf, restore and maintain our ’30s home, support political issues, and host visiting Alabamians, all the while thanking Birmingham- Southern for having brought us together ‘twice,’” he said.
Three cheers for love
Kelvin Ramsey ’86 and Rena Williams Ramsey ’85 | Birmingham, Ala.
Rena and Kelvin first met outside Munger Hall as they finished their math and English placement testing on the first day of their first year at Birmingham-Southern in the fall of 1981.
“We became fast friends, and that friendship developed into a romantic relationship within the first month of school,” said Kelvin, a Birmingham native who majored in political science. “We dated the entire time we were at BSC.”
The couple were active members of the campus and had many shared experiences. They were both on the cheerleading squad and were both involved in the Black Student Union, Gospel Choir, and Greek life.
By the time Rena’s commencement rolled around, they were engaged to be married. They tied the knot at her church in Cleveland, Miss., in July of 1986, soon after he graduated.
“He proposed to me in the Margaret Daniel residence hall, while I
was studying for finals,” said Rena, who graduated with a degree in biology. “The ring was wrapped in repurposed E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial wrapping paper and taped with a
Rena has been employed with Regions bank for the past 22 years, where she is now the human resources manager for diversity, inclusion, and outreach. Kelvin retired last April after teaching middle school in the Birmingham City School system for 25 years. The couple
“Our experiences at BSC were instrumental in shaping our lives,” said Rena. “We made so many lifelong friendships.”
Falling in love with service and each other
Kemian Carson ’14 and Sarah Gilkerson ’14 | Atlanta, Ga.
Sarah and Kemian met during first-year orientation when a woman on Sarah’s residence hall floor invited her and a few friends to a Saturday night movie with some guys.
“My friends and I, however, decided we weren’t up for a movie that night, so we ditched
the guys,” she said. Months later, she attended a pre-trip meeting on campus for an alternative spring break project in New Orleans, hosted by the college’s Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action.
“At the pre-trip meeting, who walks in, but the guys my friends and I had ditched months before!” said Sarah. “The boys ‘called us out’ on ditching them, and then we became friends. By the fall of our sophomore year, ‘Kemo’ and I were an item.”
During their four years on the Hilltop, the couple participated in many activities together and kept returning to those alternative spring break trips with the Bunting Center. They recently celebrated six years of dating and are still going strong.
“During college, if we weren’t hanging out with each other or with friends in the Lakeview residence halls or at the Hilltop Village apartments, we liked to meet up in the Norton Center between classes—either to get a bite to eat in the Caf, watch TV in the Black and Gold room, or just work on homework on the couches upstairs,” he said. “We loved our BSC experience. We met our closest friends there.”
Sarah, who majored in biology, is working in the finance industry; Kemian, who graduated with a degree in business, is working in the food industry. But they have continued their commitment to service. So far this year, they’ve volunteered at a local food pantry and helped make blankets for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
“We love returning to the Hilltop each year for Homecoming and to Birmingham multiple times a year to visit with friends,” she said. “Thanks to BSC, we got to explore the world, learn a lot, meet amazing people, and fall in love.”
A blind date opened their eyes
Robert Callahan ’50 and Virginia “Ginger” Crider Callahan ’48 | Point Clear, Ala.
After participating in the U.S. Navy’s V-5 program for over a year, Bob was offered the choice to continue in the reserves or receive an honorable discharge, to which he replied: “Going home; got a girl waiting for me back in Birmingham.”
Those faith-filled words rang true. A Halloween blind date in 1946 turned into
Ginger, who grew up in Birmingham, was a first-year student working on campus as a switchboard operator when she was approached by a friend who asked if she fancied meeting someone who wanted a date.
“On our first date, we attended a party where we bobbed for apples and danced, and then we went to the cemetery looking for spooks,” she said. “I thought he was really nice, and he was a good dancer.”
Bob began his studies at BSC in September of 1946 as a history major. He played on the basketball team for two years while working part-time at the Birmingham News and became a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. He and Ginger were married before his senior year.
“We have warm memories of our time there. Our favorite spot on campus was underneath the great Oak tree facing Munger,” he said. “The professors were very accessible to students, and we were surrounded by a great group of students, faculty, and staff.”
After Bob graduated, he ventured into business, and Ginger became a homemaker. Eventually, they moved to Point Clear, Ala., where Bob started and operated a telecommunications consulting firm from 1976-2013. He still works in the real estate business he began in 2013.
In 2011, Bob published his first book on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He is now finishing up the third book in a trilogy about Jesus’ parables, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Supper.
The couple
“We look forward to celebrating our 70th-anniversary milestone this summer surrounded by family and friends,” he said.
Life-changing lesson in Russia
Bradlee Simoneaux ’08 and Kelley Brooks Simoneaux ’07 | Fairfax, Va.
Russia in January may not seem like the most logical place for new love to blossom, but for Kelley and Bradlee, that’s exactly where it began. Kelley, a native of Tennessee, studied political science on the Hilltop,
and Bradlee, originally from Louisiana, majored in business. They never crossed paths on campus until they both enrolled in a 2007 Interim (now called E-Term) study-travel project to Eastern Europe to study democratization, led by then-Howell T. Heflin Professor of Political Science Dr. Natalie Davis. Their initial interaction was during a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, on their way to Moscow.
“Bradlee wasn’t feeling well, so I offered him Pepto Bismol from my carry-on,” she said. “This first exchange of words, followed by a precarious off-the-grid cab ride through Moscow, evolved into a relationship once we returned from our travels.”
After graduating from BSC, Kelley attended the University of Tennessee College of Law, and Bradlee moved to Knoxville the next
After several years of marriage, they began to think about a family. They adopted a daughter, Mary Brooks, in 2013; Kelley gave birth to their son, Wheeler, in 2016. This past year, the family moved to the Washington, D.C., area where Bradlee is continuing his work with Allstate while pursuing his master’s degree at American University. Kelley plans to return to private law practice soon.
Kelley and Bradlee said they owe the last decade—filled with love, travel, adventure, and building a family—to their time at BSC.
“We both graduated believing the college prepared us well for our future careers, and as an added bonus, our future personal lives,” he said.