A Texas Tech legend claims that if a woman wants a date to a football game, all she has to do is sit on the Double T bench between the Administration and Student Union buildings and wait for Prince Charming to find her.
Picture provided by Texas Tech University.
Who knows how often this actually worked, but plenty of couples have met in other ways while studying at Tech.
Pace and Laura Bixler are one of those couples. The Tech alumni have been married for five years and have a 6-month-old daughter, Ella. Laura works as the membership coordinator for the Texas Tech Alumni Association, and Pace works at Gene Messer Ford.
The couple met at an off-campus Halloween party in 2005, when she was 18, and he was 21. At that party, Laura was dressed as a sexy boxer, Pace said, and he was not wearing a costume.
“A friend of mine bumped me into her and kind of caught her off guard, and I think she thought I was kind of rude at the time,” Pace recalled with a laugh.
The couple continued to talk after their initial encounter. They agreed that without Tech, they would have never met because they grew up in different cities.
“I grew up in Austin, which is really ironic, but I couldn’t stand the Longhorns because my family was all Red Raiders,” Pace said.
Laura said many in her family had attended Texas A&M University, and she considered going there, too. Pace interrupted: “Thank God she didn’t.”
Picture by Annique Dentino. Picture provided by Jenabeth Morgan.
Another Tech couple, Tanner and Jenabeth Morgan, met each other in their first year in college. The two are only three months apart in age and have been married for seven months.
Jenabeth said she met Tanner when she decided to go a Tech Hospitality Services free pancake event by herself during finals.
“And I was like, ‘Free pancakes! Man, that sounds like a great idea,'” Jenabeth said. “So I went by myself because my roommate had to study and stuff.”
At the pancake event, one of her friends introduced her to his roommate, Tanner. The three became friends and decided to hang out more. The next semester, Jenabeth said, she developed a crush on Tanner.
“I was flirting hardcore,” she said. “I was flirting to the point that it was super obvious to Tanner, and he was very aware of it.”
The couple went on various dates for a few months. But, Tanner said, they did not sit down and decide to make it official until Jenabeth accidentally sent a text about him that was intended for someone else.
Picture by Annique Dentino. Picture provided by Jenabeth Morgan.
The text said, “We’ve gone on dates, but we’re not calling them dates.” The accident worked out, though, because Tanner said that soon after, the couple started to date seriously.
“It’s safe to say that we were taking it very slow, not rushing things at all until I sent him that text message and really sped things up,” Jenabeth said.
Both Jenabeth and Tanner did not originally plan on attending Tech but are glad they did because it gave them the opportunity to meet.
Both of the Morgans are still in college. Jenabeth is pursuing a master’s degree in mass communication, and Tanner is finishing up his bachelor’s in kinesiology.
Jenabeth said they recognized that people wait to get married until after college, but they just could not wait.
“We just kind of knew after, like, six months or so of being boyfriend and girlfriend, and we were, like, ‘I’m going to marry you someday and couldn’t imagine my life without you,’” she said.
They both said they enjoy living together and going home to their best friend each night. But Tanner, who grew up with only brothers, said he is still trying to get used to living with a woman.
Picture provided by Terrie Gressett.
Steve and Terrie Gressett met at a hayride event put on by Terrie’s church at the time while they were both attending Tech. During the event, Terrie said she could tell Steve was looking at her the whole time, and Terrie’s friends were teasing her about being in a sorority.
“All of a sudden, he says ‘You’re in a sorority?’ and I said ‘Yes,’ and he turned up his nose and kind of made a face,” Terrie said. “And I said, ‘Are you in a fraternity?’ and he said ‘No, I’m anti-Greek.’”
Later she asked what his major was, and when he answered it was petroleum engineering, she turned up her nose and said, “I’m anti-petroleum engineering.”
Terrie said they got off to a rocky start but ended up liking each other.
Picture provided by Terrie Gressett.
The Gressetts have been together for 30 years and have three children. The family lives in Tulsa, Okla., and two of their kids have moved away.
“I guess after all these years we might as well stay together,” Terrie said with a laugh.
Laura and Pace Bixler also considered moving away to a bigger city when they were younger. But nowthat they have a child, they could not imagine leaving Lubbock.
“We like being able to go to football games and be around the university and the events,” Pace said. “Lubbock is a nice place with a laid-back feel and everybody kind of knows everybody somehow.”
Tech was a great place to start a life, Laura said, and she is glad they decided to build theirs here.
Added Pace: “We’re very thankful we met there and very grateful. We love Tech.”
About Blaine Hill
