Arkansas State has provided more than an education to many students on the Jonesboro campus; A-State is the place they met their mate! Of 68,000 alumni researched, current records show there are 11,111 alums married to other alumni. As Cupid’s annual visit to love-struck couples looms upon us, we thought we’d re-visit one couple’s story and find a couple currently enrolled on campus.
Darryl & Judy Roberts
Darryl Roberts of Strawberry (BS ’60 MSE ’69) still remembers vividly the day he became serious about Judy Johnston of Bay (BSE ’61) because he carries the reminder around in his pocket. Judy was working at the library in the basement of Wilson Hall and during her break one day, the two sat on a concrete bench outside the building, “where I asked her to be my steady girlfriend.” Next to the bench was a campus sundial, bearing a plaque with the words from a Henry Van Dyke poem:
"Time is …
Too Slow for those who Wait
Too Swift for those who Fear
Too Long for those who Grieve
Too Short for those who Rejoice
But for those who Love
Time is Eternity"
The couple married on June 9, 1964, and two days before the wedding, they came back to the Arkansas State College campus to visit the sundial and copy down the words of the poem. Darryl carries a copy of the poem in his wallet to this day.*
Caleb & Anna Mullis
The modern day couple of Caleb Mullis, a junior nutritional science major, and his bride, the former Anna Williamson, a junior psychology major, didn’t wait for graduation day to marry, and they say that has worked well for them.
“Being married is easier for the two of us,” Caleb said. “We are more accountable to each other with our studies, we help the other study and we have what I’d call ‘grace’ because both of us see the responsibilities to school work the other carries.”
Although the couple grew up in Jonesboro, they never met before attending A-State; he was a Nettleton boy and she was a JHS girl. (They didn’t even meet during a junior cross-country track event in Fayetteville in which they both ran.) It was their involvement with Jonesboro’s Central Baptist Church campus ministry that drew them into the same group of friends as a part of the church’s college group’s Bible study. After some early stops and starts in their relationship, they finally started dating in earnest on July 10, 2011.
“I knew from that first date she was the one,” Caleb said. He proposed on November 5 of that year and they were married on July 28, 2012, at Central Baptist and had their reception at the Cooper Alumni Center, where Caleb is a student worker.
When they have time, they like attending A-State football and basketball games and are deeply involved in the campus ministry, where Anna is a greeter and Caleb plays the drums.
Last year on Valentine’s Day, Caleb fixed Anna a romantic gourmet dinner of steak and shrimp and served it to her at a candlelit table overlooking the lake on the back lawn of Cooper Alumni Center.
So how will he top that this year?
“We’re students, and she told me while last year was wonderful, this year she’d like pjs, a rented movie and Chinese take-out at home!”
Ah, true love!
If you’re one of the 11,111, enjoy this Valentine’s Day. Reflect on how you met your mate at A-State—then, in whatever fashion you choose, CELEBRATE!
