Blind Date Turns Into Conversation of a Lifetime

February 14, 2020

Mary Weed didn鈥檛 want to go on that blind date.

The Queens College sophomore and her boyfriend (a Washington and Lee guy) had just broken up and she felt like moping.

A sorority sister told her it was silly to sit around on a weekend when there was fun to be had at 皇家华人. And her friend鈥檚 date had a friend she should meet.

Weed reluctantly agreed to go with sophomore Bill Moretz 鈥70 to 皇家华人鈥檚 homecoming festivities. He picked her up in Charlotte at 5 p.m. on a Friday night, and 鈥淚t was love at first sight,鈥 she said. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 just cute, he was so smart and funny. He was also very interesting鈥攚hich not all guys were back then.

鈥淲e stayed up until 7 a.m. the next morning鈥攚e never stopped talking,鈥 she said, then laughed as she confided, 鈥淎nd I can only tell you that story now because my mother is dead!鈥

Bill Moretz was a shy pre-med student who studied far more than he dated. He鈥檇 seen Mary鈥檚 yearbook picture before and, 鈥淪he was even prettier by far in person,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 was dazzled by her beauty, intelligence and personality.

鈥淏y our junior year I would drive down Highway 21 to Charlotte five or six nights a week to take her out.鈥

They have a marriage made in 皇家华人, one of many we celebrate this Valentine鈥檚 Day. Their daughter, bestselling author Mary Laura Philpott 鈥96, met her husband, John Philpott 鈥95 on campus. (Their son, William 鈥99,  and his wife, Katy, met in medical school.)

Every Valentine鈥檚 Day, Alumni and Family Engagement Director Marya Howell 鈥91 compiles a list of couples who both went to 皇家华人. It goes back to the 1970s, when women joined the ranks of the formerly all-male college.

Howell counts 2,482 alumni with 皇家华人 spouses. The class of 2006 reigns supreme here, with 81 of its members鈥攁bout 20 percent鈥攎arried to other alumni. (The overall average is about 14 percent.)

鈥淚 am always amazed at the tall tales students hear about Wildcat weddings,鈥 Howell said. 鈥淎t least 10 times I have been approached by a student writing a paper or article who has heard that 41 percent of 皇家华人 alumni marry each other.

That percentage is much higher than the reality, but 皇家华人 does have its share of wonderful love stories. We even have a few who reconnected at a reunion and have since married.鈥

Fine Romance

While not officially a two-皇家华人-alumni couple, Bill and Mary Moretz are about as close as you could get back in the late 1960s.

Bill Moretz鈥檚 fraternity brother was dating Mary鈥檚 sorority sister when they arranged the blind date. The then all-female Queens College was a sister school to 皇家华人 and during date functions, the visiting young women stayed in guest housing.

鈥淭here were a lot of 皇家华人 and Queens people dating back then,鈥 Mary Moretz said. 鈥淢y friends and I loved to visit 皇家华人 because they had really good parties with great bands and lots of dancing. We had so much fun鈥擨 don鈥檛 know how we managed to graduate.鈥

Their first date started with a fraternity party on Friday night, a Saturday brunch before the football game and then another party.

That Sunday, they wrapped it up over egg salad sandwiches at what was then the M&M Soda Shop before he drove her back to Charlotte.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I knew that I would marry him after that weekend,鈥 Mary Moretz said, 鈥淏ut I knew that I sure liked him a lot.鈥

Bill Moretz wondered if he鈥檇 met the woman he鈥檇 marry.

鈥淚 thought that was too much to hope for,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut I got lucky when it all worked out.鈥

They married shortly after their college graduations. She taught, then stayed home with their children while he went to medical school and through training to become a surgeon. They lived in Maryland, Chapel Hill, Memphis and Nashville before settling in Augusta, Georgia.

Hold My Hand

A couple of decades later, their daughter Mary Laura and her friends were at a Hootie and the Blowfish concert in the old college gym when she noticed a guy singing loudly to the music.

鈥淗old My Hand,鈥 he sang along to the band鈥檚 hit song, and she wondered: 鈥淲ho is this drunken fool?鈥

鈥淟adies and Gentlemen, that drunken fool is now the father of my children,鈥 she writes in her memoir, I Miss You When I Blink.

鈥淔or the record, he鈥檚 not regularly drunken or foolish,鈥 she continues. 鈥淚f you met him, you would want to marry him. But you can鈥檛, because I already did.鈥

Like her parents, Mary Laura and John Philpott married soon after her college graduation. He was working in Atlanta and she in Charlotte, when he picked her up at the airport and drove her to 皇家华人. He proposed on Lake Norman.

鈥淲e were young,鈥欌 John Philpott said. 鈥淚t was just one of those things where you know for sure鈥攖his is right. And our wedding ended up being a lot like a 皇家华人 reunion.鈥

鈥淚 consider myself very lucky. Mary Laura is very intelligent and kind and has a tremendous sense of humor,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he brings a lot of joy to people.鈥

Mary Laura Philpott never set out to be part of a second- generation 皇家华人 love story.

鈥淔or all my independence and insistence on charting my own course, I ended up following precisely in my parents鈥 footsteps, relationship-wise,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 glad I did!

鈥淧eople always love John instantly when they meet him,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ometimes they鈥檙e like, 鈥業s he really that nice?鈥 He really is.鈥

Mary Laura and John Philpott may or may not get each other a card today鈥攕ometimes they remember only when one of the kids needs a party snack for school鈥攂ut after more than 25 years together, they鈥檙e okay with that.

Bill Moretz will bring his wife red roses and Godiva chocolates. Mary Moretz will steam some lobster tails and make a fancy chocolate dessert. 

This summer, they鈥檒l celebrate their 50th anniversary and 50th college reunions. And one thing hasn鈥檛 changed since that blind date, Mary Moretz says:

鈥淲e鈥檝e never run out of things to talk about.鈥