Celebrating Valentine’s Day: Alums Share Stories of Love and Friendship

Couples recall how Sacred Heart brought them together

There are many reasons to love Sacred Heart University—a quality education, a beautiful campus, study abroad opportunities, fraternity and sorority life, dedicated faculty, cutting-edge learning facilities and more. For these five couples, there’s another really important reason to love SHU. It’s where they found each other.

On Valentine’s Day, here’s a toast to love, friendship and enduring ties. Even though each couple’s story is unique, Sacred Heart is a very special place for each of them.  

Paige (Reeth) ’13 and Kenny Pedroli ’13 

Paige and Kenny met their freshman year while living in Roncalli Hall. They quickly became a part of a circle of friends, who remain close to this day. But they truly became close friends during their second semester of freshman year while attending a history class. Paige, who was a marketing major, and Kenny, who studied finance and economics, sat next to each other.

“I think part of the reason Kenny sat next to me was because he thought I was smart,” Paige said, laughing. “Maybe I would help him with notes and tests. But when he looked over on the first day and saw that I was just doodling and taking absolutely no notes, I think he realized he might have made a mistake.” The memory made them both laugh. “We passed,” Paige said. “But he definitely got a better grade than I did.”

During the summer between their freshman and sophomore year, things clicked. When they returned to campus, they were a couple. Over the next three years, they studied, played intramural sports, attended hockey games with their friends and hit local food hangouts such as Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria and Merritt Canteen. Fast forward to a visit to campus in 2016, and Kenny took the opportunity to propose to Paige in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. In 2017, they married.  

They now live on Long Island, with their two daughters, Penelope and Sydney. Paige recently wrote a children’s book, Welcome to the NIC-Zoo, which was inspired by the time her daughters spent in the neonatal intensive care unit at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stonybrook, NY. The couple bring them to campus every chance they get. They attend hockey games, eat at JP’s Diner and show the girls where mom and dad met. “It brings back good memories,” Kenny said. “As we grow as a couple, a family and into our careers, we see Sacred Heart growing as a school. It’s amazing how much the school has evolved since we were there. It’s just great to see it.”  

Martine (Szanto) ’16, DPT ’18 and Alexander Harwood, ’16, MS ’17 

Martine and Alexander similarly first set eyes on one another in Roncalli Hall, where they lived as part of the Sacred Heart Honors Program. Initially friends, Martine would feed advice to Alexander, who was dating a friend of hers. “He’d ask me things like ‘where should I take her to dinner’ or ‘what does she like.’ So, I’d give him advice, and I started thinking, ‘Wow, he’s a great boyfriend.” By sophomore year, after the other relationship had run its course, they realized there was something more between them. They started dating and that Christmas, Alexander, who grew up in Long Island, NY, spent time with Martine’s family in Texas. When they returned, it was clear. “Everything got better from there,” he said.  

For both, Valentine’s Day is a big deal. Each year they do something fun, like go to New York City, have dinner and see a Broadway show. “For our first Valentine’s Day, we saw Les Mis—my hands-down favorite show,” Martine said. “I remember as we were walking in the city, I told him I loved him.”  

“It was our first ‘I love yous’,” Alexander said.

From there, the road to now was not without challenges. While at SHU, they juggled busy schedules. Martine was involved in Campus Ministry and was on the club figure skating team. Alexander was on the fencing team and was working hard in internships. Following graduation, Alexander, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, often had a hectic work schedule, and Martine, who earned a doctorate in physical therapy, spent months in clinical practice far from Alexander. But by 2020 they were engaged. In 2021, they married. Today, they are still very involved in Sacred Heart. Alexander was recently elected secretary for the Alumni Association Board of Directors.  

They live in a house less than a mile from the Park Avenue Campus—one Martine said they likely drove past many times as students, never imagining that one day they’d be living together and raising their 16-month daughter in it. “We are so grateful,” Martine said. “We are so blessed.” 

Michelene (Scarchilli) ’18 and Cameron Neal ’18 

Michelene and Cameron only recently married (September 2024), but their relationship goes back much farther. Try circa 2014. As freshman, they lived in Seton Hall but really got to know one another during an 8 a.m. religion class.  

“Cameron was friends with my roommate before I really knew him,” Michelene said. “But we had this class, and we worked on this project together, and it required a lot of papers and studying and that’s really how we met and got to know each other.”  

From the start, they formed a close bond. They could be lighthearted or serious around one another. They could just hang out or have deep, meaningful conversations. They could always just be themselves around one another. They helped each other get through school projects and navigate difficult moments. Michelene recalls leaning on Cameron when she studied abroad in Rome in 2016, during her sophomore year. “I got really homesick, real quick,” she said. “He was there for me. He was my tie to home, my stability.”  

But when one of them thought perhaps it could be more, the other was unavailable. The timing didn’t work out. To observers, it seemed inevitable. “I remember every time I came home, my dad would ask, are you dating Cameron yet?” Michelene said.  

By junior year, their fates aligned. They have been together ever since. These days, Michelene, who studied art & design, works as a creative director for an event planning company, and Cameron, who studied education, is a teacher in Waterbury. 

During their wedding, longtime friends from SHU helped them to celebrate, either as members of their wedding party or guests. It was the same people who had watched this friendship and romance bloom. “It was the perfect day,” Michelene said. 

Ally (Plezia) ’20 and Brendan Benitez ’20, MS ’23  

Ally and Brendan can point to a choice they made before their freshman year at Sacred Heart as paving the way for a lifetime together. With a shared interest in volunteering and community service, they both signed up to participate in Community Connections as part of the pre-fall events for incoming first-year students.

“We both loved the idea of volunteering and getting involved,” Ally said. “But it wasn’t just us. We ended up meeting about 30 or 40 people who were equally interested in giving back, and we all became close friends.”  

In the next year, she and Brendan became leaders and facilitators and increasingly closer. “He was a bio major, and I was in communications, so we were not in the same classes. But through Campus Ministry and volunteer activities, we just became very involved and very connected. We got to spend a lot of time together and that is where the love sparked.” 

They not only participated in community service projects in the surrounding Bridgeport community, but also those in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico. The two, who hail from Long Island, NY (Ally), and Southbury, CT (Brendan), now live in North Carolina, where they got married in May 2024. But it was at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit where Brendan proposed to her two years earlier while he was completing his master’s degree in physician assistant studies, prior to earning his certification. 

As with the other couples, their invite list for the wedding was heavy with longtime SHU friends—in this case, friends who all met through community service. The couple is expecting and hope to bring their child to campus for a visit once he arrives. “SHU is our home and will always be our home, no matter what,” she said. “It’s a very special place, and we keep it close to our hearts.”  

Matthew Plank ’18 and Elizabeth Venezia ’18 

It wasn’t until Matthew’s senior year at Sacred Heart that he met the woman to whom he would one day propose.  

“I had been in the Student Ambassadors program since I was a sophomore, but Elizabeth decided to join her senior year and I’m so happy she did,” Mathew said. She was in the accelerated 3 + 2 occupational therapy program, while Matt was a marketing and business major.  

As the program got under way, they began texting and chatting and creating connections through mutual friends. Eventually, it led to a relationship.  

“I think what we both liked about Sacred Heart was the close-knit community feel. It felt like home, and we made lasting memories and amazing friends who we are still so close with today.”  

They got engaged in March and are planning a September wedding. Once again, longtime SHU friends are expected to play key roles in the wedding party. Matthew, who is a counselor with undergraduate admissions at Sacred Heart, is often on the road, meeting with prospective students and parents.  

“When I’m on the road and go to high schools to talk with prospective students and parents, they always ask me questions, such as what is the best thing about Sacred Heart or do you have a story about it that you will always remember,” he said. “I tell them it’s where I met my fiancé.” 

And there are more stories ….  

There are even more alumni who have found love at SHU. Here’s a look below at some of the many couples who have tied the knot and celebrated love in SHU style!

If you are looking to stay connected with alumni and your alma mater, the Sacred Heart University Alumni Association and Alumni Engagement offer activities, events and alumni resources.

Pictured in media header above: From top left, clockwise: Paige and Kenny Pedroli with their children at Martire Family Arena; Martine and Alex Harwood with SHU friends at their wedding; Elizabeth Venezia and Matt Plank; Michelene and Cameron Neal; and Ally and Brendan Benitez.