NJIT Makes Connections That Last: Highlander Love Stories
For many alumni, NJIT has been more than a place to earn a degree. It’s where careers began — and, for many Highlanders, where lifelong partnerships did, too.
Late nights in Redwood Hall. Study sessions in the Campus Center. Cafeteria lunches that turned into something more. For decades, NJIT has been a place where the futures take shape. For some alumni, it’s also where they met the person they would build that future with.
We are thankful for Highlanders that have shared their story in previous years, some of which can be seen here in 2020 and here in 2024.
If you and your partner were both Highlanders, we want to hear from you!
Carl Roller ’81 and Marjorie Baver ’83
Carl was part of a card-playing group that gathered near the female restroom in the Campus Center — first Spades, then Bridge. In spring 1979, his friend Mark Wilson introduced Marjorie to the group.
“It took me until April to get up the nerve to talk with her and ask her out,” Carl recalls.
They hit it off. When NJIT’s first dormitory opened in fall 1980, both moved in. Carl’s roommate went home most weekends, which meant Carl and “Margie” often had the room to themselves and grew even closer.
They tried to request each other as roommates the following year — the university declined — so Carl stayed on the sixth floor and Marjorie on the fourth.
“She was my impetus to finish my Chemical Engineering degree and obtain employment,” he said.
They married in June 1983, three weeks after Marjorie graduated from the School of Architecture. This year marks 42 years of marriage. They’ve lived in Boonton Township for the past 32 years — a life that began with a deck of cards in the Campus Center.
Sam Bickert ’16 and Ted Bickert ’14
Ted and Sam met through athletics — Sam on the soccer team, Ted on baseball. Their teams spent time together often, and friendship grew naturally through the shared community of student-athletes. They began dating in November 2013 and stayed together through the remainder of their college years.
They married in March 2019 and now live in Florida with their two children, Brooks and Zoey.
Their relationship, like so many others, began not in a classroom but in the everyday rhythm of campus life — practices, games, shared friend groups and the built-in community that athletics creates.
Luz Rivera ’93 and Peter Rivera ’18
Luz met Peter in the NJIT cafeteria. He drove her home that day. The next morning, she received a dozen red roses and an invitation to dinner and a movie.
They were married on January 19, 1992, and Luz says they’ve been “happily together for 41 years.” They have two sons and a shared history that stretches from cafeteria tables to decades of marriage.
The simplicity of it — a ride home, red roses the next day — helped define their story.
Dr. Brandy Rapatski ’98, ’99 and Steven Killi ’04
It was the first Friday of freshman year in 1994. Brandy was walking up and down the halls of Redwood looking for someone — anyone — to talk to. On the top floor, she saw a door open and a boy watching TV. She walked right in.
“Hi. Can I come in and watch TV?” she asked.
Steve replied shyly, “If you don’t mind, I’m eating Chinese food.”
They didn’t talk long. But the next week, Brandy walked into Honors Calculus — and there he was. She sat beside him, and they spent the semester writing notes back and forth during class.
They were both in the NJIT Honors College and took Calculus I, II, III and Differential Equations together. They went to Winter Formal. Brandy had “a huge crush,” but mistook his shyness for disinterest. They stayed friends until she graduated in 1999 with her M.S. in Applied Mathematics and eventually lost touch.
In 2001, a mutual friend reconnected them. Within minutes of talking, Brandy asked about Steve. Weeks later, they began a long-distance relationship. He proposed in 2002. They married October 22, 2004 — one month after she earned her Ph.D. in math.
Their wedding was officiated by Father John, the priest who served NJIT during their student years. The church was filled with NJIT graduates.
They’ve now been married for more than 21 years and have three sons. Their oldest began NJIT this fall as a Computer Science major — just like his dad.
Rehana Lewis ’04 and Jermain Lewis ’03
Rehana met Jermain at the original buffet in the old Student Center in 2000. Her best friend met him first — in the Taco Bell line.
“You need to meet this guy,” she told Rehana. “He is a transfer student and super cool, he can def hang with us.” He was invited out clubbing. When they went to pick him up in Oak Hall, he flaked.
The next morning at the buffet, Rehana saw him walk in and said, “So you were the one that stood us up!”
They started talking that day. A month or two later, they attended Winter Ball with other dates — but ended up dancing with each other all night.
“The rest is history,” she wrote.
They’ve been inseparable ever since — together 26 years, married 22. In 2018, they moved back to Newark and started a Design/Build company minutes from where they first met at NJIT.
Donna Peist (née Miller) ’09 and Jason Peist ’08
Donna and Jason met at the Albert Dorman Honors College freshman retreat in 2004. Both were architecture students and soon found themselves in studio together.
They became friends quickly. By April 2005, they were dating — and stayed together throughout college. They married on October 12, 2013.
Today they have two children — a 10-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son — and a relationship that traces back to studio desks and freshman-year retreats.
Gregory Moormann ’08, ’09 and Barbara Jimenez-Moormann ’09
Gregory was helping HallRaisers move students into the dorms when he first saw Barbara — an incoming freshman — on an elevator.
“We may have locked eyes on the elevator that morning,” he said.
They crossed paths during the first weeks of school, became better acquainted and formally started dating in 2003.
They went through their entire college careers together — graduations, engagement, marriage, a house, cars, watching fellow classmates get married.
“KIDS! The dog came after,” Gregory wrote.
Today they’re raising two busy boys — Christopher, 14, who already aspires to study electrical engineering and robotics at NJIT, and Nicholas, 10, a sports star and proud NJIT soccer fan.
Maddy Griep ’16 and Tyler Kapp ’14
Maddy played soccer. Tyler played baseball. They were introduced at a dorm party during Maddy’s freshman year by older teammates who were already friends with Tyler.
They spent most of that first year just getting to know each other. Late in the spring semester, Tyler told her he had feelings for her.
“Awe, Kapp! Thanks!” Maddy responded — effectively ending his pursuit, at least for the moment.
By the end of the semester, the tables had turned. Maddy began developing feelings, but with summer approaching, Tyler decided he wanted to go into his senior year single.
Then preseason arrived. Soccer and baseball returned. When they saw each other again, “it was like we never missed a beat.” The feelings were finally mutual.
Thirteen years together, four degrees, multiple jobs, a house, a dog — and now a baby — later, they’re approaching seven years of marriage.
They credit their time as student-athletes for bringing them together. Their favorite NJIT memory? “When NJIT beat Michigan!”
They joke about mandatory study hall hours “where we totally studied and didn’t chat the whole time.”
“We wouldn’t be us without our experiences as Highlanders,” they wrote. “Roll Tech!”
Mitushi Khare ’21 and Patrick Rossidivito ’21
Their dorm rooms were directly across from each other on the first day of freshman year.
Patrick asked Mitushi out on Valentine’s Day of sophomore year. Seven years later, they’re engaged — and celebrated that milestone in Italy.
Sometimes it starts with proximity: two doors across a hallway. Sometimes it just takes a little time.
Jazmine Sadé Arrington ’21 and Richard Shango Woods Jr. ’21
Jazmine and Richard met in June 2016 during the EOP summer program icebreaker.
The next day, she sat alone by the window in MATH 111, still shy and unsure. Richard approached and asked if he could sit there.
“Even though I was a very shy loner, I said ‘yes,’” she wrote. Over five to six weeks, they became close friends. The week before the program ended, he asked her out. She said yes.
Nearly 10 years later, they’re engaged and planning a July 2028 wedding.
“We’re still lovestruck nerds just like we were back then,” she said, “and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”