When you commit to college, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up committing to a whole lot more.
So says a Facebook Data Sciences study that found more than one-in-four married college graduates say they met their spouse while attending the same college. Facebook based the results on users that indicated their marital status and the colleges they attended.
St. Joseph’s College has its share of campus sweethearts, some of who opened up to OnCampus about what makes college the right place and the right time for so many people to find love.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, SJC Sweethearts opened up about their relationships and how St. Joseph’s played Cupid.
Kevin Deutsch ’14 and Nicole Sabatello ’14, ’17
“It’s convenient because you are able to spend so much time together while shaping your lives and becoming the people you will be in the future,” Nicole Sabatello ’14, ’17 said about meeting a significant other at college. “Also, going to a commuter college means that you’re bound to live relatively close to one another. After college, it can be a lot more difficult to find
someone because there aren’t as many opportunities to spend as much time in productive social settings.”
Sabatello met her now fiancé Kevin Deutsch ’14 while attending SJC Long Island. Deutsch proposed last year during a trip to Atlantic City with five other SJC alumni.
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “Always be a team. It’s never about just one person or the other. Consider what you can do for the other person to ultimately be better together.”
Sean Dorso ’11 and Madeline DiNapoli ’13
“It’s a very social time in your life where you are surrounded by a tight-knit group of people who have so much in common (similar age, same school, possibly same studies),” said Madeline DiNapoli ’13. “It’s easier and more comfortable to
approach people and take risks in this type of environment.”
DiNapoli met Sean Dorso ’11 at SJC Brooklyn, though they didn’t have their first conversation until they were at the train station after leaving class one day.
“The proposal was perfect,” DiNapoli said. “Beginning in August 2017, Sean started gradually giving me themed puzzle pieces that were collectively putting together photos from our seven-and-a-half-year relationship. All the pieces to each section of the puzzle were in individual themed bags that I received during special moments leading up to the proposal day. On October 22, 2017, Sean brought me to the Central Park Zoo, where I finished the final section of the puzzle that read “Will you marry me?”
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “Happy Valentine’s Day, SJC! Always remember to love and appreciate your friends, family and significant others not only today, but every day.”
Christopher Wurglics ’13 and JoAnna Meyers Wurglics ’13
“A person really develops into who they will be during their college years,” said JoAnna Meyers Wurglics ’13, who married 
her SJC Sweetheart Christopher Wurglics ’13 on Oct. 20, 2017. “Neither one of us was supposed to come (to SJC Long Island). Chris was supposed to go away, and I wanted to go to Suffolk. But my brother (Michael Meyers ’08) told me, ‘You’re going to St. Joe’s.’ And a week before college started, Chris decided to stay home. This school really is the reason we’re together. It was destiny.”
Mr. and Mrs. Wurglics met during their freshmen year at an SJC dodgeball tournament in early October. They went on their first date Oct. 20, 2009.
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “Celebrate and appreciate your relationship every day, not just on Valentine’s Day.”
Cristian Murphy ’14 and Nina Franza ’14
“College is such a formative time for so many individuals, which, in my opinion, brings about great opportunities to make 
lasting connections,” said SJC Long Island Director of Campus Ministry Cristian Murphy ’14, who recently proposed to Nina Franza ’14 on campus at a spot that means a lot to both of them. “With regards to us and our relationship, we connected because of the opportunities that college gave us and the environments for which we were able to learn in. It is within those situations that incredible trust and companionship can be formed between two people. Luckily for us, the companionship and friendship we formed within our college community grew into something truly beautiful.”
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “Find a love that is built on service and companionship. To love is to give, and to give is to truly live.”
Thomas Fonte ’75 and Linda Incorvaia Fonte ’75
“As SJC became coed the year before we entered, I never expected that I would find the love of my life there,” said Linda Incorvaia Fonte ’75, who met her husband Thomas Fonte ’75 while at SJC Brooklyn. “You just never know what is in store for you.”
Many years later, the story of their proposal is still humorous to Mrs. Fonte. “He dropped me off after a date,” she said. “We sat in the car and, being a man of very few words, he handed me a letter asking me to marry him. Those who know him find this hilarious.”
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “In the words of Thomas Merton: “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.” SJC was the right place at the right time for both of us!”
Stephen Bates ’14, ’15 and Anna Domingo ’14
“You get to meet people from different towns and from different backgrounds than the “sameness” of your high school community,” Stephen Bates ’14, ’15 said. “College lets people grow and meld together.” Bates met his now fiancée Anna Domingo ’14 in the SJC Long Island cafeteria during a break between class, where they split a black and white cookie.
Bates proposed to Domingo in December 2017 at the Jones Beach light show. “Anna was in disbelief,” he said. “Eventually she ripped the ring out of my hand and exclaimed yes!”
Their message to SJC this Valentine’s Day: “SJC is a special place and you, too, can meet your best friend and soulmate there — perhaps over a cookie during a break.”
