Colgate Love Stories

Winter 2019

Garrington Spence '10 and Madelyn Santos '09 at their wedding

Music to His Ears: She Said Yes

While Garrington Spence ’10 and Madelyn Santos ’09 only knew each other as mere acquaintances throughout most of their time at Colgate, the fateful moment that brought them closer together came after enrolling in the History of Jazz course during Madelyn’s senior year. As Madelyn was “not very musically inclined,” the pair often studied together. In between academics, they’d eat lunch at Frank Dining Hall and accompany each other on walks to class. The short time they spent together could not rattle the “undeniable chemistry” they had for one another — and on Valentine’s Day, Garrington asked Madelyn to be his valentine, to which Madelyn quickly responded “No!”

“I thought he was joking,” Madelyn says.

After realizing Garrington’s sincere interest in her, Madelyn happily agreed to go out to dinner with him. Their first date at Rusch’s proved the first of many to come.

Post-graduation, the two lived in New York City before relocating to California and settling into an apartment by the beach. Garrington and Madelyn said “I do” in front of friends and family in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on April 28, 2018. Two of Garrington’s former football teammates stood as groomsmen during the resort nuptials.

Madelyn reflected, “We dated through most of our 20s, but we finally went for it at 30.”