From Info Desk to ‘I Do’
In the 1980s, the Memorial Union’s Info and Service Centers were a convenient hub for students, including, for example, those who wanted to purchase a newspaper.
Chuck Schultz, ’83, ’86, read a lot them – but it wasn’t just because he was particularly interested in the news. His frequent visits were part of his plan to meet Sandra, who worked at the Info Center.
“Chuck would buy a newspaper and then hang out by the info desk ... for a long time,” said Sandra (Hvidsten), ’86.
“I was not particularly clandestine,” Chuck said. “I’d get the Star Tribune and a cup of coffee a couple days a week.”
Sandra was onto him. “When I went home for Christmas, I told my sister (Janelle Hvidsten Redlaczyk, ’83), ‘I think there’s a law student who wants to ask me out,’” she said.
Chuck and Sandra at a memorable college toga party.
Chuck and Sandra in Rome, married over 30 years.
Chuck eventually made his move, settling for a Sunday evening racquetball date, amidst Sandra’s busy social schedule. “It was my birthday, and my parents were in town one night and I had plans with a former boyfriend the other night,” she said.
“I had great perseverance,” Chuck said. Sandra agreed to a “proper date” the following weekend. “I’ll be wearing a coat and tie,” Chuck told her.
Sandra appreciated Chuck’s confidence, and she thought he seemed “kind of sophisticated,” which makes them both laugh today. Their first official date was at the Windmill, a popular Grand Forks restaurant on South Third Street. That date led to many more, including a toga party where they doubled with Sandra’s sorority sister and a muscle-bound football player. Despite looking scrawny in his flowered toga, Chuck’s sense of humor scored points with Sandra.
After graduation, both had plans to move to Washington, D.C. Chuck secured a job at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where he had interned the previous summer. Sandra stayed with her sister in Virginia Beach, Virginia, conducting her job search through Washington Post want ads. She landed her first job at a small boutique PR firm, and went on to work in healthcare PR and then at Georgetown University.
Chuck and Sandra were married in August 1990. They now have two grown children, Sydney and Axel, and live in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Chuck is vice president and associate general counsel at NextEra Energy.
