Then and Now: Roomies

Alumni share photos, stories and gratitude for friendships that started in dorms and elsewhere at Bentley. Send yours for a future issue.

1978

Kate Bartlet, Nancy Hyde, Carol Perkins Dodge and Cheryl Lamanna ’79

“Nancy and I have continued to meet regularly for years despite our locations — Florida, California, Texas, Ohio — and in the early years after graduation, even Greater Boston,” writes Dodge. In 2019, they gathered at Bartlet’s home in northern New York. “Honestly, we just picked up like we were still roommates. Wonderful times and friends!”

1982

Cathy (Concannon) Parsloe, Anne Marie (Alpers) Martorana, Janet (Larsen) Logan and Anne (Jakul) Baynes

On graduation day, four commuter Falcon friends snapped a picture that launched a tradition: same lineup, same spot, every 10 years. Parsloe reports in from the group’s most recent gathering, in 2022: “Janet joked that, next time, the four of us might
be in our Bentley rockers!”

1989

Lisa (Svetin) Spaulding, Sara Niesobecki, Antoinette (Leonardi) Follett and Christine (Price) Roberts

The sophomore roommates lost touch after moving out, but reconnected via Facebook and met up for the first time in 30 years.

1990

Aimee (Garrett) Dake and Mary Margaret (Sloan) Conners

Dake and Conners met at new student orientation, chose each other as roommates and moved into Waverley Hall. They report: “We made great lifelong friends with the people on our hallway. We’ve remained close and our children even went to the same high school!”

1991

Deborah Lang and Sandra (Sofoul) Parmentier

At orientation, Lang and Parmentier learned they could choose roommates rather than wait for an assignment. Lang looked at the classmate standing next to her. ‘‘We had hung out all through orientation and I thought, ‘I’d like to live with Sandi — but I’m not going to say anything because what if she doesn’t want to live with me?’ Reading my mind, Sandi turned and said, ‘Yeah!’” Their 35-years-and-counting friendship includes being maids of honor and godmothers, meeting for an annual girls’ weekend, and celebrating the anniversary of the day they met.

1996

Brandi (Cousineau) Hau, Erica (Velardi) Donovan and Rebecca (Martineau) Power

“Roommates for three years at Bentley and still best friends!” writes Hau.

2001

Vivian Cheng, Jillian (Lamoureux) Nowlan, Heather (Rysdyke) Cheney and Kate (McCullough) Gordon

They met as first-year students in Elm and lived together for the remainder of their journey at Bentley. The adventure continues, they write: “We take an annual vacation together, most recently to Oak Island/Southport, N.C. We are so grateful to have received an amazing education and made lifelong friends at Bentley!”

2008

Joemarie Hernandez and Ashley (Lauzon) Caswell

“Ashley and I met at an accepted student open house and instantly connected,” writes Hernandez, who remembers talking so much “we were told to hush by someone sitting near us. Our friendship will last for a lifetime.”

2010

Kristy (Hergrueter) Keenan and Liz (Farley) Harrington

It wouldn’t be a big day without a Falcon friend: Here are the roommates on graduation day and at Keenan’s rehearsal dinner in 2021.

2016

Julia Paradis and Deeksha Lal

“Two random roommates on the Women’s Leadership Floor became lifelong friends!” writes Paradis. “We will always keep in touch, and have Bentley to thank for bringing us together.”

2021

Rubeah Jung and Neha Khanna

Jung calls Khanna “one of my first and bestest friends at Bentley” and notes that they stayed roommates after graduation. “So many memories in Slade and Kresge. Being close to the dining hall, we were always going for a Russo’s run (now Harry’s Pub)!”