BSU Love Stories - A-H

Ashleigh Brew (‘11) & Jeremiah Brew (‘12)

Jeremiah and I met in the fall of 2007 in the Wiseman Student Center (may it always be remembered) playing pool with friends. Somehow, he convinced me to give him my phone number after our second encounter...but I didn’t use it for weeks! I had forgotten his name by then! LOL

We began really hanging out with each other after the winter break and were inseparable after that! We’ve shared countless memories on the campus of Bowie State that can never be erased. We both joined our organizations - Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Gamma Rho - in 2008. I served as the 08-09 Campus Activities Coordinator and Jeremiah helped us throw some awesome parties and events as a C.A.B. member.

We got married on December 7, 2013, the day after Jeremiah graduated from Navy boot camp. We currently reside in Jacksonville, FL.

Jeremiah and I love to play pool any chance we can get. He’s still trying to get good enough to beat me. :)

Darrell Brooks (‘79) & Sandra Brooks

In 1974, I was a freshman basketball player at Bowie State University. Being from New York, I wasn’t able to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday due to practice. Raymond Burke, a fellow teammate, overheard a conversation between me and another player from New York discussing going to McDonald’s for Thanksgiving. He called his mom and asked if he could bring a few of his teammates home for dinner and she immediately agreed!

Walking into his mom’s house I met a very cute young lady who happened to be his sister. We hit it off pretty well and continued a long distance friendship that developed into a relationship. Forty-four years later, we’ve been married for 36 years, have two children, five grandchildren and three great grands! I guess you could say I got more than Thanksgiving dinner that day. 

Sampson Brown, Jr. (‘66) & Yvonne Brown, Ed.D (‘62)

We both entered Bowie State as freshmen in 1958. He had just returned from the Philippine Islands after serving in the Air Force and I was just out of high school. We met through friends and did not like each other very much. I was young and he was too forward and worldly.

After double dating a few times, we warmed to each other’s idiosyncrasies. It was a priority to complete our education and get teaching jobs. Eight years later, we were married while he taught middle school in Talbot County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I was teaching in Job Corps at a Jersey City, New Jersey site. This past December 2018 we celebrated 51 years of marriage! Thanks Bowie!

Harold “Kojak” Burris (‘81) & Pamela Burris (‘95)

Years after graduating from Bowie State University, I met Pamela Ambush at a Bowie State Alumni meeting in 1997. She is a graduate of Bowie State with a master’s degree from the Nursing School program. For our first date, we attended the Bowie State Alumni Gala and were married three years later.

David Camps (‘84) & Theresa Dyer-Camps (‘83)

We came to Bowie State University as freshmen in 1979. Everybody knew each other, but it wasn’t until we were both a part of the Pan Hellenic Council, when Theresa was the secretary, that I told her line sister I wanted to take her out to eat.

I took Theresa to Pondarosa for dinner because I had a coupon for two steaks. She was being cute and didn’t eat all of her food so I asked her if she was finished. When she said yes, I took my fork and ate the rest of her steak. That’s when she fell in love with me. LOL

We were college students and taking Theresa out to dinner was a sacrifice. Every now and then she reminds me that she knew back then that I was cheap. I asked her to marry me on March 27, 1984 and we have been together ever since. We now have three adult children and all of them are college graduates and productive citizens. Thank you Bowie State for bringing the two of us together! (Que 81 and AKA 82)

Robert Coles, Jr. (‘98) & Towanda Coles (‘97)

I was working the front desk at Haley Hall in 1995 and saw him walk in. He flashed a smile that captured my heart. I didn’t know his name but would forever remember his smile.

I later met him at RA training during the fall semester of 1995 and learned that his interests were similar to mine. We both were native Baltimoreans and learned that we attended high schools that were connected and had never met. He went to Poly and I went to Western.

We became best friends and enjoyed spending time with one another. We didn’t date at BSU because we were content on being just friends. While attending BSU, we learned the value of authentic friendship, developed the art of great communication and learned how to love one another with no strings attached. We attribute our rock solid marriage of 12 years on the foundation of friendship we built on the campus of BSU.

I graduated in 1997 and he stayed at the university for an extra year because he was a double major. In the early 2000s, I happened to be visiting the campus and we bumped into each other at the Henry Administration Building. It was as if we had never lost touch.

In 2007 we reconnected after losing touch and realized that our lives would be more enriched if we committed to becoming one. In December 2007, we were married surrounded by our fellow RAs as guests and members of our bridal party. He is my best friend, the father of our children, and my lifetime ministry partner. He is my forever. He is the one GOD kept for me. And it all began on the campus of Bowie State University. #WeLoveBSU

Kublai Duhart (‘13) & Cheri Duhart (‘12)

Kublai and I met in 2010 at the graduate dorms when I decided to leave my room for once from studying. I called the only person I knew from class to find out what there was to do. He said the girls across the hall were always hanging out at his suite and invited me to hang with everyone. There, I met my classmate’s roommate (who would normally be at work but happened to be off). We began talking and learned that we were both from Rochester. I was from Pennsylvania, and he was from New York. He said he thought he’d never date a girl from Rochester, but we started meeting for lunch and dinner in the cafeteria daily and we’ve been inseparable ever since. In 2016, we got married in Columbia, Maryland and we are still best friends. Thank you BSU!

William Epps (‘O4) & Natalie Epps (‘04)

We met at Bowie State In the fall of 2000 and have been inseparable ever since. We met initially in front of the elevator of Alex Haley Hall and exchanged initial hellos. We now have two kids and live happily ever after. BSU forever!

 

 

Joseph Flood, III (‘15) & Shayna Flood (‘19)

Shayna and I met during the start of the fall semester of 2014. I was walking down the promenade and I ran into her. I was working security at the time, helping out with Move-In Day. It was something unique about her smile that was so beautiful.

She was the first woman I took my graduation picture with after walking across the stage. I was her biggest supporter when it came to her being a cheerleader. I sat in the front row for every game! Her Bulldog spirit and excitement kept me smiling all the time.

I proposed to her on January 25, 2017 and we were married on May 5th of the same year. My love for Shayna grows deeper every day. We both Love God and put him first in our Marriage. We now have two beautiful children. I’m so blessed to have met her at Bowie State.

Keith Floyd (‘13) & Sydne Kersey-Floyd (‘14)

We met in 2012 and had multiple classes together in the business building. We shared a few quick looks and laughs over the span of that year, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Keith asked me for my contact information, under the guise of wanting to study together. We eventually parlayed the study dates into a beautiful romantic experience. We now have a little boy that was born in 2017, got married in 2018, and we are still growing and going stronger every day.

 

 

Jeremy Freeman (‘15) & Christa Freeman (‘15)

Jerm and I met in Anthropology 101. He was sitting behind me and we had to do our normal class introductions for the first day. After I spoke, he realized we were both from the eastern shore and we agreed to talk after class. He didn’t keep his promise and left as soon as class was over.

Throughout the semester, I kept him in the friend zone and he continued to try and talk to me. Finally, after a year, we started dating. We were married in September 2016 and in March 2017 we welcomed our first child. Now that’s #BulldogLove! 

Michael Green (‘02) & Constance Woodard Green (‘04)

Mike and I met in the lobby of Haley Hall in the first few days after move-in day. Extremely casual conversations with strangers is part of that first-week experience, but this conversation became a friendship, and that friendship became a relationship.

We officially started dating in spring 2001. There were some bumps along the way, but we worked through them, got married in 2009, and had a son in 2012. I never guessed that a simple conversation would lead us here 18 years later!

Chester Harris (‘76) & Gwynell Harris (‘76)

In the spring of 1974, I met the love of my life, Chester Harris. It was during pledge season and our lines were studying in the library. Our eyes met across the room and before long we were laughing and whispering between the aisles of books. His charm and wit made the rest of my Bowie State experience so memorable, however, in 1976 I graduated and returned to the eastern shore. He was a resident of Baltimore City and resumed his life there.

Our lives went in different directions, but similarly, we were both married, divorced and had children. In 2009, we reconnected though a friend and an over-the-phone friendship occupied the next three years of our lives until we met again in 2012. We picked up where we left off 30 some years earlier and we were married in June 2013.

Tyvie Herbert ('11) & Rehaana ('12) Herbert

“Our Love Story dates back to the fall of 2007 as incoming freshmen at Bowie State University during our first Homecoming.”

Tyvie was a Sociology/Criminal Justice major, whereas Rehaana was a Childhood and Adolescent Studies major so they rarely crossed paths on campus. The couple met each other through mutual friends and didn’t think much of their introduction, nor their many brief encounters.  

As time went on, a genuine friendship started to form and it was not long before they found themselves in a relationship. Tyvie and Rehaana dated all four years while at Bowie State and had the pleasure of sharing in many memorable moments. One in particular was serving on the Royal Court together as Mr. Essence and Miss Black & Goldunder the leadership of Ms. Chevonne Boyd (James) and Mr. Bryant Stewart during the 2009-2010 academic School year. Both served in many other capacities within the Student Government Association, and in academic related functions respective to their majors.

“We recently got married in August of 2018 and have the pleasure of being the parents to the most handsome little boy, Alijah Roman who was born in May 2018.”