Over the last 50 years, the University has been home and workplace to thousands of students and staff and subsequently many lasting friendships have been forged and relationships celebrated.
Thank you to all those who sent in their stories; a small selection of highlights are published in Falmer magazine and below are the longer versions and extra stories . . .
Louise Dynes (Geography 2006) and Toby Osborne (Molecular Genetics 2004) met in September 2007. They had both volunteered to be Residential Advisors and ended up having their first conversation at 7am in Kent House after someone set off a fire alarm!
‘Our early days were a bit of a whirlwind and we were officially a couple just two weeks after meeting, having bonded over numerous things including our love of Stargate SG1 and walks from campus into Lewes.’
Louise and Toby subsequently set up home in Lewes and graduated in 2009. They now have 2 sons Nathan and Noah and have moved to Bournemouth where Toby teaches Chemistry and Louise juggles a second degree in Modern Languages with looking after the boys.
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On the way to the East Slope wedding reception!
Alix Courtney (History 1990) and Ian Macfarlane (Physics 1987) married in 1994 on a boiling hot day in August and celebrated with family and friends in East Slope Bar:
‘It was a lot of fun! We had about 200 of our Uni friends celebrate with us along with family from far and wide who were a bit bewildered to find themselves in a student bar with a hogroast as the wedding dinner. It was strange seeing everyone dressed up so smart in East Slope.’
Still living locally and with 2 children, they still have lots of connections with Sussex and are often back on campus. ‘I had a great time at Sussex and gained a large number of brilliant friends who I still see often’ Alix explains.
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Stephanie Alldritt (EURO 1975) and Martin Geisen (ENGG 1975) met in their first term in and have been married since 1981. They have two daughters aged 25 and 22. ‘Our time at Sussex remains a very happy memory for both of us,’ Stephanie writes.
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Mark Pretty (AFRAS 1976) and Cynthia Woodward (EURO 1976) also met in their first term: ‘36 years later we are still together and have lived in Sydney Australia for the past 20 years. We have four children and a great life’.
Despite living on the other side of the world for so long, Mark still supports Brighton & Hove Albion and last year he and Cynthia came back to the UK and couldn’t resist a visit to Sussex ‘for a wander around the Uni to visit all our favourite spots in Brighton and near surrounds’.
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Mike and Doreen on holiday with their daughter
Still going strong after 43 years, Mike Cohen (Economics 1964) met his wife Doreen Lassman (European Studies 1965) in her first week at Sussex and they married in September 1969.
Now enjoying active retirements and being with their grandchildren, Mike and Doreen still live close to the University retaining ‘many local connections and fond memories’ of their time on campus.
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Housemates on Coombe Road
Satu Vilkama (International Relations with French 2002) and Andrew Spratley (Artificial Intelligence 2002) became a couple after living as housemates on Coombe Road with their friends Nick and Annicken, in their second year of university. Satu recalls their long distance relationship starting when she moved to France for a year abroad. 
‘Following graduation I moved to Finland in 2008 after gaining a traineeship at the Finnish Foreign Ministry and Andy followed me here a year later in summer 2009.
We are now both living in Helsinki and are getting married in the summer, 10 years after meeting at Sussex. Sussex and Brighton will always have a special place in my heart.’
Married in the Meeting in House
Paul Fisher (ENGAM 1969) was in his second year studying English and American history when he found the ideal venue for marrying Gwen, his childhood sweetheart – the iconic Meeting House.
They revisited in 2011, on their 40th anniversary, taking along friends, children and grandchildren!
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Photograph: Carl O'Connell
Yugin Teo (English 2001) and Amy Prior (Geography 2001) started going out in 2003 when Amy was in her final year and Yugin was a DPhil student:
‘We were both part of the Meeting House community and met through the activities there. We got married in the Meeting House on 9 September 2006 in a lovely ceremony conducted by Gavin Ashenden that everyone still remembers fondly. We both still live in Brighton. Amy has recently finished her training to be a primary school teacher and I am currently working at Sussex as an Associate Tutor in the Schools of English and Media, Film and Music, and as a Projects Coordinator in the School of Education and Social Work’.
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Photograph: Strat Mastoris
Doctoral researcher Alexandra Loske and the Deputy Director of the Sussex Language Centre, Jeremy Page, first met on campus and
this was one of the reasons why they chose to get married in the Meeting House, although Alexandra ended up having to get changed into her wedding dress in one of the offices!
They also revisited the Meeting House for the christening of their ‘Sussex baby’ daughter Flora, pictured here as a bridesmaid.
Alexandra's research has also been connected with the Meeting House and you can read her blogs on colour research here
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Debashree Mitra (MA Education Studies 2008) and Rahul Singh(MA Automotive Engineering 2008) met at the Diwali gathering on campus, where Rahul was the host, and they kept on meeting thereafter, ie. on the bus stop to Asda!
They have now been married for 2 years, Debashree saying, 'Sussex has a special place in our hearts to say the least!'
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Eric Baker (International Relations 1966) and Cherry Slater (Sociology 1967) met in 1968 and were married in 1969, before Eric's MA and Cherry's final year at Sussex, during which they lived in a flat with battlements and a roof terrace above the clock tower - great for parties.
A few decades on, after a spell in Australia, then careers in IT and teaching, they are enjoying retirement in West London, travelling extensively, looking after grandchildren one day a week and having plenty of time for friends and family.
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If you would like to share your memories of Sussex with us either for the webpages or for the next edition of Falmer, just email alumni@sussex.ac.uk with your story and any accompanying pictures