But their families encouraged the two college students to wait until after graduation to tie the knot.
So, after Cooper received her diploma from AU’s School of Public Affairs on Sunday morning, there was a surprise waiting on the end of the stage: Miller, dressed in a dark suit and with a ring in hand.
He got down on one knee. She said yes. As the crowd cheered, the couple embraced. Awwwww. Here’s the video evidence:
Miller compiled some details of the couple’s history for the university, which were passed along to me. In that, Miller wrote that he decided to pop the question on stage at graduation “because I don’t want to wait another minute for her to be my fiancée.”
What’s planned for after graduation, other than planning a wedding? Cooper, who is from New Jersey, is looking for teaching jobs in the Washington region. Miller, who grew up in Indiana, recently accepted a job as a communications assistant at the public relations firm.
Cooper and Miller aren’t the first college grads to have such an intimate moment witnessed by a crowd wearing mortar boards, as every year there are at least one or two graduation-proposals that are documented in You Tube videos.
The one that I remember most was in 2010 at St. Michael's College in Vermont when the student speaker riffed on the philosophy of Star Wars, then asked his girlfriend to stand and told her: “My love for you burns hotter than the two suns that orbit Darth Vader's whole planet.” Here’s that video:
Have there been other commencement day proposals this year? If you have a link, please post it in the comments section below.
For even more higher education news, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook. And here are some other posts about the intersection of higher education and romance:
Popping the question at graduation (May 2010)
‘The Marriage Plot’ captures college as both social and cerebral (Oct. 2011)
Take this ring... and my in-state tuition discount (Feb. 2011)
Turkey Dump 2010: Break up over Thanksgiving? You are not alone. (Nov. 2011)
