Thanks to Gregg and Stacey (Singer) Rood for sharing their story, and extra special thanks to their daughter Alexandra Rood, Columbian College Class of 2019, for nominating her parents as alumni valentines!
The summer before they started at GW, Gregg Rood, GWSB BBA ’84, and Stacey (Singer) Rood, GWSB BBA ’84, both attended a student orientation program. The kickoff event was on the third floor of the Marvin Center, where Stacey saw Gregg from across the room and thought he was “very cute.”
After the event, the orientation group relocated to Strong Hall, and orientation leaders placed them into small groups.
“Gregg and I were in two separate groups, but were seated in such a way that we were looking right at each other. We caught each other’s eye—which made me happy, since I thought he was cute,” Stacey remembers.
After the event, they had refreshments and started talking. They found out we were both in the business school and were taking the math placement exam the next day. Gregg invited Stacey to join a group of people he met to walk over to the exam and then get lunch at the Marvin Center, which Stacey accepted.
After Gregg’s invitation, orientation ended, and participants received a booklet with everyone’s contact information. Stacey put a check mark next to everyone’s name that she met—but she put two check marks next to Gregg’s name.
School started in August, and Stacey was surprised to find out from her roommate that someone named Gregg had come by looking for her and asked for her to call him. 
Stacey did just that, and the same night, the pair went to the first-year orientation dinner on the first floor of the Marvin Center, along with a group of people.
Afterward, everyone walked to the Washington Monument; Gregg and Stacey sat together on a bench. One by one, people announced that they were tired and going back to the dorm, but Gregg and Stacey stayed and talked for hours.
“I don’t recommend being at the Washington Monument alone with a stranger,” Stacey explains, “but…”
From then on, Stacey and Gregg hung out every day. A few days after their time at the monument, Gregg kissed Stacey, and they admitted that they liked each other the first time they met. Gregg confessed that he, too, put two checks next to Stacey’s name in the orientation booklet.
Having a first date on the National Mall of many “only at GW” moments for the couple.
“We always dreamed of our kids attending GW and living in D.C., and both happened,” Stacey says.
The family now also considers their dog, Mabel (named after GW’s first female undergraduate, Mabel Nelson Thurston), an honorary Colonial.
-Carli Halper contributed to this story.
