CHUCK AND KAREN SWOBODA CHOSE MARQUETTE WITH THEIR HEARTS. THEN THEY CHOSE EACH OTHER. AND THIS PARTNERSHIP KEEPS GIVING BACK TO MARQUETTE. BY PAU L A W H E E L E R
Chuck, Eng ’89, committed to Marquette after watching men’s basketball clinch the 1977 NCAA Championship on TV when he was 10. Karen (Kane), Eng ’90, toured campus before graduating from high school and says, “It just felt right.” With similar schedules freshman year, they fell into a rhythm of walking from English to chemistry together. “We hung out a lot,” Karen says, first as friends. They joined the pep squad, where Chuck reigned as “The Bleacher Creature,” dressed in a wacky getup and radiating school spirit — amusing Karen. Their bond grew, friendship evolved, and they married in 1989. Both were shocked to learn they’d been named Marquette’s 2018 Alumni of the Year. With the university’s important role in their lives together, receiving the award jointly “makes it extra special and appropriate, since we’re a team,” says Chuck.
GIVING BACK MARQU E T T E M A G A Z I N E / 25