According to Business Insider, just 28 percent of all married couples attended the same university, showing that the odds may not be in favor of meeting the love of your life in college.

While this may be true for most students, a few couples at Iowa State have beaten the odds. 

Nov. 11 marked 45 years of marriage for alumnae Marti Beck and Gordon Klatt, who met in 1967 in their junior year of college. Both Beck and Klatt held the position of activities chairperson in their respective residence halls. After hearing about Beck’s relationship ending, Klatt decided to take a chance and ask her on their first date. 

“On Nov. 4, 1967, for our first date, I took her to Des Moines to see the “The Sand Pebbles,” starring Steve McQueen,” said Klatt. “It wasn’t the worst date of my life, so on the following Monday I called her to ask her out again.” 

Attempting to be clever when asking for a second date, Klatt asked Beck “How would you like to get married Saturday night?”

Much to his surprise, Beck replied yes and asked what time he would pick her up. 

That Saturday, Nov. 11, the two went to a movie in Campustown, ate dinner and then proceeded to Brookside Park where over 100 of their friends were waiting. 

“[My friend] John dressed as a minister and performed a ceremony, complete with a fake wedding certificate,” Klatt said. “There were presents and cake, a ring and of course my car, a 1962 Oldsmobile Cutlass Jetfire, got decorated.”

Beck and Klatt continued their relationship through the rest of their junior year at Iowa State. However, Klatt decided to enlist in the Navy that spring, and opted to finish his degree after returning from military discharge.

When Klatt returned home to Sioux City, he reconnected with Beck, but learned that she was engaged to another man. Klatt, nevertheless, knew Beck was his soulmate. 

“I eventually convinced her I was the one for her,” he stated. “We got married, for real this time, in LeMars, on Nov. 11, 1972, five years after our first wedding.”

Similar to Klatt and Beck, Bailey Price and PJ TeKippe met at Lied Recreation Athletic Center in October 2012 and have been together ever since. Before graduating, the couple participated in the campaniling tradition multiple times. 

The morning of the 2017 Homecoming game against Texas Christian University, Price and TeKippe took a walk through Central Campus with TeKippe’s parents and their golden retriever, Chuck.

As the group reached the Campanile, TeKippe put a new collar on Chuck which read ‘Dad has a question.’ While Price read the dog’s message, TeKippe got down on one knee and proposed. 

“We love everything about Iowa State so I figured Homecoming and one of biggest football games in the history of the program set the stage for a proposal,” said TeKippe. “As the story goes, you’re not an official Iowa Stater until you kiss under the Campanile at midnight on Homecoming. I wanted to make our engagement official at the same place.”