Bennington Love Stories
Students and alumni share the ways Bennington has brought more love into their lives.
College is one of the pivotal places in which people forge lifelong connections.
Whether you met your spouse or best friend at Bennington, began a collaboration, met a mentor, or discovered a hobby that makes your heart flutter, we want to hear from you! Share your Bennington love story by filling out this form.
Friendship at First Bite
"Once a week, a few students from Sawtell, as well as a students from a few other houses, gather for baking club and stay up until the late hours of the night making delicious treats and chatting about our lives. We always bake too much, but we’re happy to frantically message group chats offering pieces of the week’s chosen baked good.
This has been a great opportunity for me as a first-year student to get to know my housemates better and connect with the Bennington student community as a whole. I can know for certain that no matter what is stressing me out at the time, I have one night a week where I don’t have a care in the world aside from worrying about keeping the oven temperature consistent. I love baking club!"
- Jamie Costell '28
The Linchpin of Their Love
"I (Anastasia Platoff '12) met Joel Fagerberg '15 at Leigh House in the fall of 2011. We fell in love. Our Bennington experiences only overlapped by one year, so staying together meant navigating the subsequent 'long-distance years' (during which I became one of those alumni always coming back to campus).
We settled in the Boston area in 2015. I work as a licensed mental health counselor in community mental health and Joel is a third-grade public school teacher at the Sokolowski School in Chelsea, MA. We recently celebrated our thirteen-year anniversary. On the list of things Joel and I talk about the most, Bennington is near the top. Our classes, faculty members, peers, projects, wayward phases, turning points, and achievements... experiences that have shaped who we are and what we have chosen to do in life.
For us, there is no place more loaded with nostalgia than Bennington. Thank you for bringing us together!"
- Anastasia Platoff '12
The Sweetness of a Best Friend
"My first college course was with faculty member Ron Cohen. Classes were held in a room where the tables were arranged in an O shape. Across the room sat Theo Smith-Miller '19, and whenever Ron’s wife sent in baked goods for the class, I’d call out to Theo to help pass them around. Those treats sparked the beginning of our friendship. That was over a decade ago, and, of course, our bond grew far beyond shared desserts—she’s now family. I’m grateful to Bennington for bringing us together."
- Giselle Perez '20
Love, Bennington Style
Clayton Keller '73 and Elaine (Braun) Keller '73 celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January 2025 in true Bennington fashion. They began with a trip down memory lane–a visit to the College. Family from near (Maine and Massachusetts) and far (Switzerland) gathered at the old Niles farmhouse in Shaftsbury for a few days of skiing and hiking and chilling. They took a picture on the Robert Frost trail in Shaftsbury. Lunch at the Blue Benn Diner followed.
A Lifelong Friendship
"During my first Canfield House meeting in 1968, I met my best friend at Bennington, Twig George '73. I still remember sitting on the floor when Twig slid over to me, her light blonde hair smeared over her shoulders and her expression wide-eyed and warm. Twig and I have maintained our friendship over the years, despite considerable geographic distance, and held one another's babies, admired respective first homes, as well as endless dogs and various other critters. We have supported each other through life's challenges and successes, struggling to understand our mutual complicated mothers and even more complicated, remarkable daughters.
Twig made me my first driver's license on blue cardboard in 1969, met me at the airport with a personalized terrarium when I returned from my first field work term in Alaska, and led me on wonderful Vermont adventures in her old Saab. We continue to be close friends to this day and will for the remainder of our lives. Bennington is and was an important part of this forever friendship."
- Denise Orenstein '72