Centralight

Calendar April 6 Opus XVI, CMU Music Building, Mount Pleasant campus By Marcie Lehr Otteman, ���87 Executive director of alumni relations When we started brainstorming ideas for this issue related to ���love at CMU,��� we had no shortage of heartwarming stories. I love hearing from the many alumni who met and fell in love at Central, who proposed on bended knee in front of the Warriner seal and who ��� decades later ��� have seen three or even four generations of their family come back to CMU. All because two people found each other here. It���s stories like Chuck and Barb DeGolia, who met 60 years ago on the dance floor at CMU and never looked back ��� as well as the stories that are yet to be told, like the alumni whose receptions I���ve attended on campus recently ��� that fuel my belief that romance is alive and well. But along with these more traditional love stories, we also wanted to delve into some lesser-known stories about passion and commitment. So we talked with first lady Elizabeth Ross about her life as a single mom and how her tremendous love and commitment to her daughter blossomed into a mission of helping others who face the same struggles. And as we observe multiple sclerosis awareness this month, we looked at how the university and several alumni are tackling this debilitating disorder. We followed the unlikely story of love between two people living with MS, my colleague, Dan Digmann, and his wife, Jennifer, a graduate student at CMU. I hope you���ll come away from their story with a renewed hope that love can indeed prevail in spite of the odds. �� 13 Threads Fashion show, CMU Events Center 20 Scholarship Luncheon, Student Activity Center May 3-4 CMU commencement ceremonies, CMU Events Center, Mount Pleasant campus 10 CMU Night at Comerica Park, Detroit 27 Military Appreciation Day, Dow Diamond, Midland June 8 CMU Night with the Loons, Dow Diamond, Midland 19-21 Grandparents U, Mount Pleasant campus If you need a little soundtrack for your fine CMU romance, we humbly suggest a tune from Grammy award-winning CMU alumnus Andrew Dost of the band, fun. Chances are you���ve already heard the No. 1 single ���We are Young.��� We were thrilled to chat with Andrew about his time at CMU, and we can���t wait to see what���s in store for him. So in this season as we shake off the winter chill and look forward with anticipation to the earliest signs of spring, allow yourself to wander back to CMU ��� the place that even for just a little while, your heart found a home. ��� Marcie Calling all bucket listers! The Centralight staff is on the lookout for alumni who have achieved monumental ��� and even quirky ��� feats. Have you climbed Kilimanjaro? Saved an endangered animal? Read ���War and Peace��� backwards? Get in touch with us and share your story by emailing alumni@cmich.edu. centralight spring ���13 3

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