Royals In Love: Alumni Stories

Some stories begin in the most unexpected moments — a shared class, a quick introduction, or a conversation that turns into something more. At Queens University of Charlotte, connection is part of everyday life, and over time, those connections often grow into lasting relationships. Across generations of Royals, couples have met while learning, leading, and finding their place on campus.

Celebrate the Royals who found love at Queens and carried it with them long after graduation.

Amanda McGrath ’06 & Kyle McGrath ’07

“If there were no Queens, there would be no us.

To know our story requires going back to the early 2000s — the days of John Downey, Amber Perrell (Slack) 1.0, and Leigh Davis. Our story is about best friends who didn’t realize we loved each other until our friends pulled us out of denial.

Being a Kappa Delta and Pi Kappa Phi, our friendship circles and social events heavily overlapped. Literally ‘the girl next door,’ we shared a wall in South (Wireman), allowing us to grow close by sharing our daily lives and being each other’s confidants. Never even thinking about dating, we attended events together and were each other’s constant in years of such change.

After Kyle graduated, our friends had a bit of an intervention, asking if we realized we loved one another. Escaping the intimacy of the Queens community and able to figure it out on our own, we decided to give it a try and never looked back. Turns out, our friends were right!

Married for almost 16 years, we are still best friends who get to spend our lives together. With our kids — a 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son — we enjoy taking them back to where it all began.”

Niran Lohmaneeratana ’11 & Elisabeth Loh ’12

“Niran was my RA, but we quickly fell in love. We started dating in 2008, then got engaged and married in 2014. Our life is surrounded by lion themes, and we owe so much to Queens for bringing us together.”

Courtney Kirouac ’20 & Eric Kirouac ’18

“Flash back to 2018: I had just transferred to Queens to swim on the team, while Eric had recently graduated after competing on the Queens Triathlon team and earning his degree in Exercise Science. Funnily enough, during my recruiting trip to Queens, we actually crossed paths without knowing it — I even stayed in the same residence hall, sleeping in the room directly above his dorm.

As a junior, I became familiar with the triathlon team while lifeguarding at the pool between my own practices, all while pursuing my own degree in Exercise Science. I graduated in 2020, right in the middle of all COVID chaos.

Fast forward to 2021: I was living in Delaware and pursuing my Doctorate in Occupational Therapy when I was invited to a Queens University Exercise Science alumni Zoom get-together. I almost couldn’t attend, but my schedule unexpectedly opened — and that’s when Eric and I officially met. We followed each other on social media, not thinking much of it at the time.

Little did I know, Eric had accepted a job as a triathlon coach in Delaware. Once we realized we were living in the same state, we connected and went out as fellow alumni — bonding over shared professors and swimming in the same pool at Queens, just in different years. From our first date on, it was history.

We’ve now been married for almost three years, and if it weren’t for Queens, we never would have met.”

Chloe Abernethy ’19 & Luke Abernethy

“I started at Queens in 2015 and met my future husband, Luke Abernethy, in the fall of 2017. Although he was not a Queens student, I met Luke through my roommate Hailey Gase, and since then Queens has been an integral part of our love story.

Our first date was Casino Night, where we had an incredible time taking part in an iconic Queens tradition. From there, Luke spent more time at Queens than at UNCC. As a sister of Phi Mu, I was heavily involved on campus, and Luke was a constant supporter. From attending philanthropy events to homecomings to sorority formals, Luke supported all my campus involvement and grew to love Queens just as much as I did.

Following graduation, Luke and I became long-distance while I attended graduate school at UNCG and later accepted a job offer in Corning, NY. Despite living away from Charlotte, Queens retained a special place in my heart.

In 2022, I planned to visit Charlotte for Valentine’s Day weekend, and Luke had made plans for us to visit campus under the guise of attending an alumni event honoring his boss and fellow Queens alum. On February 12, 2022, we arrived on campus and walked past the fountain outside of Jernigan, where I saw beautiful roses and champagne left on the fountain’s edge. I quickly realized that Luke’s story about the alumni event was a ruse to get me back on campus so he could propose at the place where our relationship first began.

His proposal was beautiful and heartfelt and was possible in no small part thanks to my wonderful friend, Chessa Beebe, a fellow Queens alum who helped arrange the flowers and capture photos of our engagement. We have been happily married since May 13, 2023.”

Kollin Schrenk ’19 & Karely Avila Ledesma ’20

“Kollin and I met in fall 2018, just as the school year started. It was the first year that Queens had a baseball team, and Kollin had transferred in to play baseball and serve as one of the team captains. We had mutual friends and eventually connected online before officially meeting on campus.

We met outside, right in front of the caf, and have been inseparable ever since. Kollin graduated that spring, and I followed the year after. We got married in fall 2020 and had a bigger ceremony in fall 2021, where we came back to Queens to take some of our wedding photos to celebrate where we met.

We both returned to Queens in 2022 to receive our master’s degrees, all while working full-time jobs. We graduated from our programs in 2024 and were so excited to walk the stage together.

We owe our happy life to Queens and are excited for our future kids to hopefully attend one day, too!”

Corey Jenkins ’21 & Will Jenkins ’21

“We met our freshman year at Queens in 2017, but not without a few missed connections first. We were in the same ROAR group, and Will even held up a sign cheering me on at the Parents’ Weekend Talent Show.

It wasn’t until our third encounter, when mutual friends invited Will to join us for church, that something finally clicked. The next semester, we officially started dating, and four years later, Will proposed.

Queens was part of our special day in so many ways — from walking down the aisle to an original composition by Dr. Zach Zubow to saying ‘I do’ in Belk Chapel on December 9, 2023, surrounded by Queens alumni and former professors. We will be forever grateful to Queens for being part of every chapter of our love story.

One place that stands out is the swing between the Wireman dorm and the library. After our first date, neither of us wanted the night to end, so we sat there swinging and talking for three more hours, not ready to say goodnight.”

David Griffith ’21 & Gabriela Griffith (Warren y Vigil) ’22

“In 2017, I became the first-ever graduate of Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, to enroll at Queens. In 2018, Gabriela became the second. Linked online by the staff of our former high school, we messaged each other and realized we had walked in the same halls for three years but had never met.

We decided to grab lunch at the Lion’s Den underneath Trexler Dining Hall (may it rest in peace). I remember being moved by her earnest enthusiasm for life around her and her enchanting smile. We became fast friends, hanging out regularly throughout the fall 2018 semester in the HBO lobby and dancing together at Casino Night.

Amid constant pressure from my friend group, I finally sat her down at the Coffee House and asked her out on a formal date. Six wonderful years later, we were married.”

Skyler Cook-Weeks ’22 & Natalie Cook-Weeks ’22

“In 2017, we were both the first swimmers to verbally commit to the Class of 2022. We never met until we arrived on campus in 2018. One Sunday morning, I was studying when Skyler joined me for study hall hours at the Levine Center. We ended up spending four hours together doing way more talking than Spanish homework, and from then on, we were inseparable with our nights in the library.

I remember falling for his selflessness, quiet smile, and intentionality. He always puts the team and the people he cares about first. We eventually transitioned to dinners in the Lion’s Den, and a few weeks later, Skyler showed up at my dorm with flowers and asked me on an official date.

Fast forward to March 2022 — after nine months of tireless work, Skyler asked my parents for my hand in marriage. It was a week after our last NCAA Championship, and Skyler secretly planned the perfect surprise with my family, teammates, and friends. We walked over to Freedom Park, where he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. It was such a sweet moment getting to share it with our friends leading up to graduation.

After five years together, we were married surrounded by our closest family and friends — many of them people who touched our lives during our time at Queens. While we’ve made our home in Nashville, we’re forever grateful for the second home we built in Charlotte and the people at Queens who shaped us.”

Jack O’Neill & Logan Krepps ’24

“I, Jack O’Neill, attended Queens University in the academic year 2021/22 as part of the ISEP (International Student Exchange Program).

Originally, I am from Northern Ireland, where I attended Ulster University and completed my bachelor’s degree in sport science and master’s degree in sport nutrition. My wife, Logan Krepps, a Raleigh, NC native, attended Queens for all four years, completing her bachelor’s degree in conservation biology and graduating in May 2024.

We met early in the fall semester of 2021 through a shared friend group. Her roommate, also from Northern Ireland, attended the same university I did. The three of us, along with other friends, quickly became a close-knit group.

By the end of the academic year, Logan and I had developed a very close friendship and decided to commit to a relationship — one that would take us on a long-distance journey between North Carolina and Northern Ireland from May 2023 to February 2025.

We got engaged in December 2023 when Logan visited Northern Ireland for Christmas. After navigating the U.S. immigration system from February 2024 to November 2024, I arrived in Raleigh, NC, where we now live. We were married on April 19, 2025.

Our long-distance relationship endured many visits, including travel across the world to locations including the USA, UK, Ireland, Spain, and more.”