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When you think of romantic places, what do you imagine? Perhaps Paris? Maybe a moonlit beach? What about Building 13? It’s a romantic place for alumna Diane —it’s where she first met her husband Derek Rucker ‘92.

“Three other students and I were waiting outside of our advisor’s office in Building 13. We commiserated about the upcoming semester, especially 3.185 with Professor Szekely, which was supposed to be awful. One of the students suggested exchanging phone numbers so that we could form a study group. Little did I know that I had just met my future husband and he never had any intention of using the other telephone numbers,” she remembers. Diane and Derek are among 4,400 married MIT alumni couples and are anecdotal proof that MIT is a romantic place.

MIT students at the junior prom, 1950s. Photo: MIT Museum

Over the years, we’ve asked you for your stories of love at MIT and even sat down and talked with you about them. In many of these stories, specific locations play a supporting role.  Now we want to know which of those locations at MIT is most romantic for you.

To celebrate the upcoming Valentine’s Day, we invite you to share your stories of love at MIT and the places that make your love story special. Was Barker Library the best place to spend quiet moments with your beloved? Or were the tunnels your favorite spot for a romantic stroll? Share your stories in the comments of this post or share on Facebook. With your help, we can map out the best places to find and feel the love at MIT for our February 14 Slice of MIT post. Love stories don’t have to be limited to people. We’d love to read and share stories of spaces you love at MIT.

Need a little inspiration? Listen to the podcast above. Alumni share stories of where and how they fell in love at MIT. Vandita Wilson ’90 and John ‘90 Wilson told us of a love story that began at East Campus. Karen Ha ’85, SM ’87 and Perry Ha ’85, SM ’87 fell in love at Walker Memorial, and Liz Andrews ‘06 and Bill Andrews ‘04 first met in the orchestra pit at Kresge.

 

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Comments

Anne Vallee Williams

Fri, 02/03/2017 11:18am

Hey, we should be doing these in audio format.
Is there a way we can do that?

John McCafferty '79

Mon, 02/06/2017 7:39pm

I found love at Wellesley College....

Nicole Morell

Fri, 02/03/2017 2:08pm

Hi Anne,

Yes! That would be great. I'll send you an email to see how best to do it.

Nicole

Joe Kesselman

Sun, 02/05/2017 4:55am

Most of the spots on campus that I considered romantic no longer exist, having been renovated and repurposed out of existence. (I contributed toward at least one of those renovations, actually.)

The surviving ones tend to be rooftops with a good view. Over several years of running The Random Walk I definitely noticed that the view from the Green Building roof tended to promote cuddling, and there were a few other good places to just sit and enjoy the world and a friend's company.

But even a simple student lounge, after hours, could acquire these overtones depending on who was with you. Spent a few hours with someone asleep on my knee, with no thoughts rising much above the level of "nice kitty... nice to trust and be trusted."

I concluded long ago that much of what we consider romance would be classified as grooming behavior if we observed it in another species. I suspect that MIT is one of the few places where that thought wouldn't spoil the mood.

Cory Anne Sharer

Fri, 02/03/2017 6:25pm

This such a wonderful idea, this is a magic place:)

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