WSU alumni got engaged on Valentine’s Day
Couples comment on how WSU has changed, stayed the same, their memories from visiting as children
The Harvill’s found out they were both from the Tri-Cities. It took Jill longer to decide if she wanted to be something more.
February 25, 2021
As the month of love comes to an end, WSU alumni reminisce on their days as Cougs when they met their significant others.
WSU alumnus Jill Harvill said she met her husband, Steve Harvill, in an American social dance PE class at WSU in the fall of 1993.
“We kind of started as friends, then found out during that class that we had mutual friends, then we hung out after that,” she said.
Harvill said she and her husband realized they both lived right outside the Tri-Cities, and they met up in that area that Christmas break.
They spent a lot of time together. But Jill said it took her longer to want to be more than friends.
“The more we hung out, the more we liked hanging out and we started dating that spring,” she said. “Then we got engaged the next Valentine’s Day in 1995 and then we got married in May of 1996.”
Jill said her family spent a lot of time in Pullman after she bought her first house there. Her daughter was born in Pullman and is a junior at WSU.
“You guys have a ton more facilities now and cool places to hangout and we didn’t have that. But I think the feel [of it] is pretty close to the same,” she said. “You just feel like you’re home when you’re there.”
WSU alumni Kevin and Ashton Smith went to WSU at the same time but did not meet there.
They met at a bar called The Beach, which is now occupied by Champions Bar and Grill in Moscow, Idaho.
“They did country swing dancing every Thursday night, and [that is how we met],” Kevin said.
The pair got along well when they first met. He said it took a while before the two got serious.
Ashton said they were friends for a long time and talked frequently.
“When we started dating, we realized that we were always the people that we wanted to talk to,” she said.
Kevin said the campus is different now than when they attended WSU. For example, the Compton Union Building was not open because it was going through a remodel and there have been changes to the Student Union Building.
Kevin said his grandparents and his parents met at WSU, so he has visited campus a lot throughout his life.
“There’s just been a lot of changes…but I think the environment of the campus and everything is pretty similar to [the way it was] my entire life,” he said.
