Samantha Chapman ’12 and Stacy Erickson-Pesetski, Manchester professor of English and associate dean of academic affairs, met in the classroom and bonded through a passion for animal welfare. Erickson-Pesetski, right, was volunteering at Humane Fort Wayne one day in 2022 when Chapman, Indiana state director for the Humane Society of the United States, stopped by with one of the beagles she rescued.

Tiffany Berkebile ’10 Numbers and Adrienne Numbers ’10 met as first-year students and instantly became best friends. Adrienne introduced Tiffany to Andrea Numbers ’07, and the rest was history. They loved taking walks, especially by Funderburg Library, and, 10 years later Andrea proposed to Tiffany at their favorite spot. They got married in 2021 in southern California.

For more than 40 years, the late Dave Friermood served Manchester University – in charge of setting up for events, as director of maintenance and as a residence hall custodian to name a few of his roles. Along the way he taught generations of his “boys” what it means to work hard and serve others. They set up a scholarship in his honor.

The peace studies plaque dedication is a tradition that offers opportunities each year to reconnect with each other and with Manchester. Here, Kay Guyer ’13, spouse Willa Simmet and Kay’s mother, Lyn Guyer, attend the 2014 dedication in honor of Ted Studebaker ’67, a pacifist and conscientious objector who served as an agricultural worker during the Vietnam War and was executed by North Vietnam in 1971.