Love at Davidson Lasts Long Beyond Graduation

ARSHI HUSAIN ‘26 (SHE/HER) FEATURES EDITOR

The Old Well has been a Davidson College landmark for over a century. While initially established to increase water access on campus, the Well soon became much more than that. According to college lore, couples who kiss at the Well owe their luck in love to its magic.

“There’s no statistical data on this, but a lot of anecdotal evidence,” said Major Gofts Office Marya Howell ‘91. “At reunion weekends, for example, I’ve been witness to people being proposed to at the Well.” She remembers the roof of Chambers being a prime kissing spot for couples on campus as well.

Every Valentine’s Day, Howell compiles a list of couples who went to Davidson. This year she found that there are 2,482 alumni married to another Davidson alum. In 2006, 81 students—or 20 percent of the graduating class—married other alumni.

While the rumor goes that 41 percent of Davidson alumni marry each other, Howell dispels this as nothing but a tall tale.

“The average is about 14 percent,” Howell said. “Regardless, Davidson does have its share of wonderful love stories.”

Even with the actual statistic being substantially lower than the rumored one, Howell claims the number is high relative to other average liberal arts colleges. She attributes this to the unique Davidson community—for example, the Honor Code, which permeates throughout campus culture.

“There’s a lot of shared values here. After graduation, people often reconnect through shared experiences from their time at Davidson.”

Students aside, there’s a number of faculty and administration that either come to Davidson in pairs or end up meeting their future significant others on campus.

Morgan Kee ‘12, who currently works as the Director of Annual Giving, met her husband her freshman year. A classic love story: she was a cheerleader, and he was a football player. They hardly knew each other when they first found common ground at a BSC event, but soon enough, she was cheering on the sidelines at football games. Morgan Kee married her college sweetheart, Harvey Kee ‘11, in 2016, and looks back fondly on the special moments that they shared on campus.

“The fireplace at Union was our spot. We had many of our first dates there.”

Alumni Ellen Marshall ‘91 and Tommy Marshall ’91 reflected on their time at Davidson: the pair met in a Hindu mysticism class their senior year. In 1993, they decided to tie the knot, surrounded by old friends and classmates, and are now approaching their thirty-fourth anniversary.

“We were married at the Davidson College Presbyterian Church and had our reception brunch at Commons, catered by Commons” Ellen said.

The Marshall’s believed it would be most fitting to celebrate in the dining hall that brought them closer together, accompanied by the people that had witnessed their love story from the very beginning.

Ellen further recalls that some of her best memories from college entail sitting with Tommy and her friends laughing around a table at Vail Commons. When asked whether she and Tommy have any favorite memories from their time at Davidson, Ellen mentions that, on rainy days, they would frequently slip and slide on a little golf course on campus.

Another couple whose love flourished at Davidson is Susan ‘94 and Peter Cobb ‘91. Their love story unfolded on the soccer field, a sport they both played passionately. Before the pair began dating, Susan recalls being in awe of Peter’s soccer skills. Peter was able to spend extra time with his girlfriend before he left Davidson due to an honor code violation. In order to graduate, he had to help coach the women’s junior varsity soccer team, allowing the couple to strengthen their relationship. Peter proposed to Susan in Rusk Eating House when she was a junior, and they got married upon her graduation in 1994. Fittingly, Peter ensured that the entirety of the men’s soccer team was present at Rusk to celebrate their engagement.

Anurshi Modi ‘26 and Srijit Banerjee ‘26 carry on the legacy of love at Davidson as an international couple from India. Banerjee says that they enjoy taking walks around campus and going to Nummit for dates. One of his fondest memories so far is the first dance they had together at Davidson during freshman orientation. When asked whether they have kissed at the Well to memorialize their yearslong love, he responded, “No, not yet... but it sounds like a great idea for Valentine’s Day.” Modi and Banerjee say that the close-knitness of the Davidson community helps them in fostering the special bond that they share.

Romantic relationships aside, Howell stresses the importance of the strong friendships that this campus harbors.

“I think it’s heartwarming and speaks to the community at Davidson.” Romantic and platonic relationships tend to thrive here simply because of the strong sense of community, similar degrees of intellect, and core values that people at Davidson have in common. Howell alludes that the Davidson culture forever shapes people in a way that it seeps into every connection they go on to form. She hopes to remain in touch with her college friend group the way that Davidson graduates often do. Whether or not the magic of the Well is real, the magic of Davidson very much is, points out Howell.

“It’s amazing to see the number of people that stay close with their Davidson circle.”

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