Seven love stories from The Forest
Jessica Bruno-Raiz C’99 and Paul Raiz C’99
“We were both freshmen, living on Brown first. Both bio majors, both varsity athletes (Paul soccer, Jess softball). We had spoken a few times throughout the first semester, but during progressive snack night leading up to finals is where the flirting really began.
When the second semester started, we were hanging out a lot more and even had our first ‘date’ on February 13, 1996, with a group of friends at Papparazzi in the Short Hills Mall.
The rest, they say, is history. We dated throughout college, went on to grad school (Boston University) together, and got engaged in 2001.
We were married in Great Hall by former Drew professor Don Jones in July 2002. We still live nearby in Morristown with our sons Jack (20) and Gavin (17). We even went back to campus on our 20th anniversary to re-create our wedding photos. Both our boys have played soccer on the same field at Drew where Paul did for various travel tournaments.
Drew was the place where our love story began!”
Lauren Miglietta C’24 and Morgan Mundahl C’24
Lauren and Morgan met on move-in day of their sophomore year. Lauren was introduced to Morgan through his roommate, and they immediately found out that they had two things in common: Introductory Astronomy 1 and fencing! In class, they found themselves sitting next to each other within their friend group. Sometimes after class, they would go together to get lunch at the Commons before heading off to fencing practice.
At the time, Lauren was an epee fencer, and Morgan was on the foil squad. As the season progressed, Lauren made the switch to foil, and Morgan would bout with her and give her some pointers. They would joke around and laugh in practice, and despite their friends and teammates thinking they liked each other, both Morgan and Lauren would reassure them by saying, “We’re just friends.”
Fast forward to October 25. Morgan was going to take a walk with Lauren around the arboretum to tell her how he felt, but just as soon as they stepped outside, a thunderstorm struck with heavy rain! They ran to seek shelter at his dorm, where they talked and confessed their feelings for one another. It was on their second date, on November 6, that they made it official.
As they were walking back from Sunday Motor Co., they visited the gazebo across the street from Drew University, where Morgan asked Lauren to be his girlfriend—and of course, she said yes! Since then, Morgan and Lauren have been going strong for over four years. Now, Morgan is growing an events company and doing freelance videography and photography, and Lauren is in graduate school at The New School, working toward her MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance.
Kirsten Trambley T’20,’21 and Rachael Phelps T’18
Rachael entered the Master of Divinity at Drew Theological School in the fall of 2015, and she started working in the Office of Graduate Admissions the next summer. Fast forward to February 2017, when Kirsten scheduled a campus visit to Drew and Rachael was her tour guide. When Kirsten began her studies that fall, it was great to see a familiar face at orientation, and we became friends throughout that academic year.
Rachael graduated in May 2018, and Kirsten followed in her footsteps and began working in Graduate Admissions that summer. Rachael was serving in ministry nearby, and she stayed connected to the Drew Theo choirs and her friends at Drew. Kirsten and Rachael’s friendship continued to grow, and we began dating in 2019.
Kirsten completed her Master of Divinity in Social Justice Advocacy in 2020 at the onset of the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic, leading her to reevaluate her vocational plans. As the lockdown continued, Rachael continued her pastoral leadership and supported Kirsten’s decision to pursue a second graduate degree from Drew. Kirsten graduated with her Master of Sacred Theology, focusing her research on gender, sexuality, and race in 2021.
Before long, Kirsten returned to where their love story began, beginning her role as the Assistant Director of Theological Admissions. “We are grateful for our Drew education, our ever-growing Drew Theo community, and falling in love in The Forest that means so much to both of us.”
Catherine Costigan C’10 and Greg Baker C’11
“Greg and I met in late 2009 through a mutual friend on Greg’s Lacrosse team (hi, Paul Girardi C’10!) on a rambunctious night out at Prospect Tavern in Madison. We struck up a fast friendship, born out of the spirit of friendly debate and differing views, which we learned to foster and embrace in many of our Drew political science classes. We maintained that friendship through the end of our respective tenures at Drew and beyond. We stayed in touch when I began my law school career at Rutgers-Newark, and Greg deployed to Afghanistan in 2013.
We began dating in 2016, when Greg would come up to visit me in New York City, where I began my legal career, while he lived in Arlington, Virginia, and worked on Capitol Hill. We maintained long-distance with lots of long-weekend visits and Amtrak trips until March 2020, when I moved down to Arlington to join Greg and ride out the pandemic together. In living together, we embraced our shared love of cooking, gardening, traveling, and our Covid puppy, adopted in April 2020, a cattle dog we affectionately named Stevie Licks, who continues to be our boss and house manager today. We have been fortunate to take our love of travel to Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Cuba, Croatia, and many other places.
Greg proposed on a trip to Key West in September of 2020, and we got married in Dover Plains, New York, on July 31, 2021, with several Drew friends in attendance! Since then, we bought a lovely home in Arlington and welcomed our son, Declan, in September 2025.
We both are very fond of our time in the Forest and often reflect on how fortunate we were to have the professors we did at Drew.”
Talia Durante C’18 and Jonathan Kramer C’18
“My husband, Jonathan Kramer, and I met at Drew in 2014. His mom took a picture of him on his first day, and I happened to be walking by in the background!
We met in Tolley-Brown our freshman year, and the rest is history! We just got married in October.”
Ligia (Duart) Muench C’91 and Steve Muench C’91
“Ligia and I have a great story! As I write this, we are closing in on 32 years of marriage and 35 years of dating. She is my best friend and the love of my life, and we owe it all to our experience at Drew University.
We actually met in London in the fall of 1989 during our junior year. I was on the study abroad program in London studying British politics, and Ligia was in Brussels studying economics. This was a tumultuous but very exciting time to be in Europe with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Towards the end of the semester, the Brussels students came to visit the London students in London, and our mutual friend Andy Hershey C’91 who was studying in Brussels with Ligia introduced us. In fact, I know the exact date we first met – December 8, 1989 – because I wrote it down in my journal. Over dinner at the Sticky Fingers Cafe, I wrote that I had a “great conversation with Ligia” who was “really friendly and interesting” and that “she’s got nice eyes, too.” I was hooked. The study abroad crowd became close friends when we returned to campus (and we still are to this day), but Ligia and I didn’t start dating for another year. She will tell you that she was intrigued by me because the day we met I had a camera around my neck, all Indiana Jones, and was about to head off to Africa on a safari the following week.
One of our favorite Drew memories was our semester abroad and meeting in London. But the MOST memorable BY FAR has to be our wedding on May 29, 1994. We got married on campus in Great Hall and had the reception in Mead Hall, which had just recently been renovated. Our wedding was so perfect and beautiful in every way! We have returned to campus a handful of times over the years to walk the pathways, stop in some buildings, and visit Great Hall.
I think it would be a great moment now to talk about the value of a small liberal arts school like Drew. When I got accepted to Drew, I didn’t know anything about small vs. big schools, public vs. private – none of that. People are shocked that I went to a school with 1,400 undergraduates, but I can tell you now that I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I came out of school with my best friends for life, my wife for life, and experiences that have defined who I am.
We still stay in touch with our Drew friends and see them as often as we can. We’ve visited friends in Florida and Washington, DC, as well as in New York/New Jersey over the years. We love our long lasting Drew friendships and connections!”
Ignacia (Castellon) Eschelbach, Part-Time Professor of Sociology and Karl Eschelbach C’07
“While working as part-time faculty in 2020 here at Drew, I met my husband in NYC. We struck up a conversation, where I learned that he is a Drew alum from the Class of 2007.
A year earlier, when I first came to campus for my job interview, I completely fell in love with it. While the faculty in my department were showing me around, they mentioned that Drew is often used as a film set and for weddings. My mind was blown, as I thought the campus was so incredibly beautiful.
In October 2021, when he proposed, neither of us hesitated about the location. It was always Drew. And on September 17, 2022, we got married at Mead Hall.
Today, we are the proud parents of two young boys, and I still teach here at Drew.”
