Le-Laf Love

The year is 2004. You are a Lafayette alum. You go to a party the night before a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Scranton, and a friend pulls you over to introduce you to someone they think you might find something in common with.

Then you find out they are a Lehigh alum.

Bethanie Coltin (Lafayette ’95) met her husband, Marcus Fischer ’98, exactly that way.

“When she introduced us, she said Marcus went to Lehigh, so it should be an interesting conversation.”

“Neither one of us was interested, per se,” she recalls. “We just chatted. There was no animosity. Maybe a little bit of ribbing here or there, but nothing aggressive.”

They connected over their shared love of sports, including the rivalries of teams from Boston (Bethanie) and Philly (Marcus).

The pair became friends, and three months later, Marcus asked Bethanie out on a date. They were married in 2006 and now live in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with their two sons, Alex (17) and Lucian (15).

Alex, a high school senior, is deep into the college selection process, and one school is at the top of his list.

“He has not shown much of an interest in Lafayette,” says Bethanie. “But [he’s] definitely interested in Lehigh.”

She is not surprised or bothered since she knows the family she married into.

“I'm totally used to this,” she says. “Marcus and his family have so many Lehigh grads and people that are affiliated in some way. I've always been the black sheep of the family.”

But she admits she hasn’t pushed Lafayette on her son either.

“I had a great experience there, and it’s a great school, but it's small, and he wants something a little bit bigger.”

Still, she is a proud Lafayette alumna. She wears her maroon with pride and yells “Go ’Pards” even when she’s the only one in the room rooting for the opposing side … which is often the case.

“That’s all part of the fun,” she beams. “Like I said, I'm well conditioned to it.”

When they attend the game, she says, where they sit depends on where they can get tickets.

“This year, the only tickets I could get are on the Lafayette side, but more often than not, we sit on the Lehigh side, especially if we go with his family.”

Marcus’ brother, Patrick Fischer '97, and his wife, Karen Fischer '99, are often part of their Rivalry plans.

“It’s just fun to be a part of the whole scene, and it doesn't matter where the game is taking place. It doesn't matter if I'm being surrounded by Lehigh fans or Laf fans.”

While often the lone ’Pard in the group, she says the rivalry in the family is good spirited, and she appreciates what the Fischer family loves about Lehigh.

“I think the culture there is great. Having been to the campus a few times over the years and going with my son, I look at it through different eyes than I did when I was 18 or 20.”

Nonetheless, she will be standing proud in Fisher Stadium wearing her leopard print on November 22 — alongside her Lehigh family.

Coming from a Lehigh family, Alyssa Plodwick ’20 imagines that people expected her to follow in the footsteps of her parents and sisters.

Her parents, Michael Plodwick MBA’83 P’12 P’13 P’20 and Linda Baker Plodwick MBA’84 P’12 P’13 P’20, met at Lehigh, and her older sisters (Lauren Plodwick ’12 and Lindsay Plodwick ’13) had also attended the Bethlehem campus.

While she aimed to keep an open mind during her search, Lehigh was ultimately the right choice for her.

“I visited other schools, but I had a better experience at the accepted student day [at Lehigh]. Things were falling into place.”

After choosing her destination, Alyssa began dating high school friend Kenny Campbell, who had taken her to senior prom. Her family was shocked to learn that he had already committed to play baseball for Lehigh’s greatest rival.

She remembers her parents’ reaction: “Seriously? It has to be Lafayette?”

In the years to follow, Alyssa says having a direct connection to Lafayette through Kenny only created more chances to engage in the Rivalry tradition. Instead of feeling pressure to choose sides, they embraced the opportunity to enjoy a fun rivalry with their friends.

Neither abandoned the other, and both stayed loyal to their teams. They would often attend both tailgates, both after parties, and each one arrived showing their loyalty through their team colors.

As Alyssa joined her family’s long line of Greek life affiliation, pledging Gamma Phi Beta, Kenny built a community through Lafayette baseball. Eventually, the two merged.

“Greek life amplified the Rivalry experience,” says Alyssa. “There are so many formalized social events around Rivalry Week. And once Kenny was on the Lafayette baseball team, my sorority would do things with his social group.”

She remembers making banners with snarky messages to roast their friends at Lafayette.

The couple married in October 2024. She remembers her bridal party hosting a trivia game at their shower where guests held up Lafayette or Lehigh flags to guess if the answer was Kenny or Alyssa.

They have agreed that when they attend Le-Laf games, they will sit on the side of the home team. She isn’t against wearing Lafayette stuff — if it’s baseball gear that supports the team her husband played on. And he has a pair of Lehigh shorts that she bought him years ago.

“He wears them all the time,” she says.

They have kept their tradition of staying together for Rivalry and hitting up the parties for both schools, never sacrificing their loyalties in the process.

“I go to Laf fully in my Lehigh stuff, and he goes to Lehigh fully in his Laf stuff,” she smiles.

Marching 97 alumnus Philip Kinzel Sr. ’63 P’92 and his wife, Eleanor P’92, achieved 50 Game Club status and lost count.

Between countless Lehigh-Lafayette games, alumni parties, and tailgates, they spent many years exposing their four kids to Lehigh culture.

They were ecstatic when their first son, Philip Jr. ’92, chose to attend.

“I remember going to these games as a kid with my dad,” Phil Jr. recalls. “He’d bring us back to the fraternity house and throw the football with my brothers. Lehigh was part of our fall tradition.”

After their next two boys chose other schools, Phil Sr. and Eleanor waited to see what their youngest child, Maria, would do.

Imagine their shock when she passed on Lehigh’s offer and accepted the one from Lafayette.

Older brother Phil remembers hearing the news.

“I remember talking to my parents. I couldn't believe it. Why would she choose Lafayette of all the schools? She got into Lehigh, but for whatever reason, she decided to blaze her own path and went with our rival.”

In the end, Dad trusted that his daughter knew what was best for her future.

“He would have loved for me to go to Lehigh,” she says. “But he was always supportive of my decision.”

Phil Sr. knew his daughter’s choice hinged on the opportunity to play for Lafayette’s volleyball team.

“Lafayette made a big fuss over her, and they said she would start as a freshman. She enjoyed it, but their volleyball team was terrible. They lost every game their first year, so she quit,” Phil Sr. laments.

A year later, Lafayette hired a new coach, and Maria decided to play again.

“They started winning,” he remembers. “Her very last game of her senior year, they beat Lehigh, and her three brothers were at the game. That’s a great memory for us.”

Maria, who played the outside hitter position in volleyball, drew the attention of the track coach, who was looking for a good arm to throw javelin. She also caught the eyes of the track team captain, James Fischer (Lafayette ’02). The two married in 2007. Today, the couple lives in Vermont, where Maria is a power supply analyst for Green Mountain Power.

Phil Sr. is excited that Maria and Phil Jr. are both traveling to his house this year to celebrate Rivalry with him.

“We will be watching with about 10 Lehigh alumni. I told [Maria] to get out her Lafayette hat.”

Phil Sr. says he’s always enjoyed the Lehigh-Lafayette game as a friendly rivalry.

“I never really had a negative opinion of Lafayette. I probably even applied there myself. I never got so excited about the Rivalry that I didn't like Lafayette. I just wanted Lehigh to win.”

Maria’s sentiment is similar: “Whenever I hear that anyone is going to either Lehigh or Lafayette, I feel a connection to both schools. I always remember the culture of the Rivalry.”

According to Mark Hembarsky ’80, a key part of Lehigh’s magic is its connectivity through tradition. As class correspondent for the Class of 1980 and a LUAA board member, he has communicated with many alumni he knew as a student, as well as with many he didn’t. He notes that the Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry is a tradition that keeps alumni and their families connected, engaged, and enjoying shared memories.

For his family, the same is true. Mark and his wife, Susan (Bregstein) Hembarsky ’80, moved double-digit times for his career — both nationally and abroad — and the Rivalry has been an anchor for them. They have attended as many L-L weekends as possible over the years.

“It is the homecoming for us. Our two daughters also attended L-L weekends — before, during, and after their college years. They experienced and appreciate the depth of spirit at both Lehigh and Lafayette,” Mark says.

Hembarsky notes that Rivalry Weekend has been a key gathering for his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, over the decades, usually with more than 40 brothers, family, and friends attending. “Once a brother, always a brother,” he says proudly.  

Susan experienced the importance of The Rivalry as a member of the Marching 97.

When their daughters were graduating high school, the Hembarskys were living in Southern California. He said they put no restrictions on where they chose to attend college and visited “a lot” of schools across the country.

Despite the wide-ranging search, both girls ended up in the Lehigh Valley, but they chose rival schools: Rebecca (Hembarsky) Missimer graduated with the Lafayette Class of 2010 with a BA,  Biology, and is now a doctor of physical therapy, while Morgan (Hembarsky) Nielsen ’13 graduated from Lehigh with a BA, Communication and Journalism, and is a communications manager in a large corporation.

“I can’t speak for each of their decisions, but my daughter Rebecca will say she didn't want to live on the side of a mountain, so she ended up on the top of College Hill! She picked Lafayette after an overnight visit and was impressed by how welcoming everyone was,” recalls Mark. “I think Lafayette is a fantastic school, and it's celebrating its 200th anniversary, which is incredible. There’s a lot to be said for that.”

While at Lehigh, Morgan was a contributor for The Brown & White and The Epitome yearbook, so she understands the impact of The Rivalry well.

The split loyalties don’t end there. Rebecca married Ralph Missimer '12, BS and BA, Civil Engineering and Architecture.

“The expanded Hembarsky family — Mark, Susan, Rebecca, Ralph, Morgan and her husband, and two of our four grandkids — together have attended Lehigh-Lafayette games and my fraternity pre-game tailgates over the years,” Hembarsky says. “The big question is which school will our grandkids eventually attend!”

For the 150th Rivalry at Yankee Stadium, their “big happy family” traveled to New York City to experience it together.

“We went to the official pre-game party and had a cherished family photo taken with both schools’ mascots. We also got to see the Empire State Building lit up in both schools’ colors and their banners displayed on the NY Stock Exchange building, and were proud to watch both mascots ring the bell on the TV news!”

Hembarsky proudly remembers that he and Jeff Sherman ’75 arranged to rent out the entire NYY Steak restaurant at Yankee Stadium for a private pre-game lunch for his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity family together with the Class of ’75.  “My daughter Rebecca was the only Lafayette-er in attendance!”

Hembarsky says they have never been “a house divided.” Family has always come first. He credits the ongoing success of both schools for keeping the tradition a vibrant part of the student and alumni experience on both sides.

"It takes two teams to make a rivalry," he says. "The Lehigh-Lafayette tradition needs both, and there is respect and connectivity within and between them. My family fully understands that. Of course, there is always kidding, but we're all in this together!"

As his family grew, ​​Jeff Konigsberg ’83 shared his nostalgia for his Lehigh days with his kids and dreamed of them attending his alma mater. While his sister, Leslie Konigsberg Levy '80 '29P, celebrated her son, Michael ’29, becoming a Mountain Hawk himself, Jeff’s kids chose different paths.

Two of his four kids even opted for a familiar Easton school.

“I have two sets of twins,” Konigsberg says. “When it came time for my older set of twins [Kate and Max] to choose a school [...] my wife Joan [Lunden] was hired by Lehigh to teach a class for a year.”

What might have been an exciting opportunity for Mom was not so exciting for their kids. 

“My daughter was like, ‘Wait a minute … Mom's going to be a professor here?" Konigsberg recalls. 

Like most high school seniors, the idea of Mom following her to college was not on Kate’s bingo card. She ended up choosing nearby Lafayette, and her twin brother followed her lead.

As a member of Chi Phi, living with many fraternity brothers who played football, Jeff has vivid memories of Rivalry.

“Watching your brothers on the field competing, there was a sense of pride knowing that your family was representing your institution. We continue to go to the games together 30 to 40-plus years later,” he says.

“When we go to games now,” he continues, “it's almost like this time lapse. We feel the same. It brings the entire experience of Lehigh back, and you just feel like a kid again.”

While he knows his kids have had positive experiences at Lafayette, he feels it doesn’t compare to his affinity for Lehigh. 

“I will say that I will probably always live with the regret that my children didn't get to experience what I experienced at Lehigh,” he continues. “They like college, but [...] they don't love Lafayette the way that I love Lehigh." 

It helps that his daughter sits with him on the Lehigh side of the stadium for games.

Konigsberg acknowledges that Kate and Max have received a good education and community at Lafayette, and he says he never appreciated the beauty of their campus as a student.

“I never saw the campus while I was at Lehigh,” he says. “As a basketball player, I went at nighttime, so I never got to experience the campus. But the campus is lovely,” he admits. 

Still, Lehigh reigns supreme in his mind. 

“I don't think the Lafayette experience resonates to the same level as the spirit and belonging and community that I experienced at Lehigh.”

For that reason, he refuses to sit on the Lafayette side of the stadium and will never be caught wearing its colors.

“I have never accepted the Lafayette attire. Nor have I ever gotten the Lafayette parent attire. I'm never wearing Lafayette — ever.”

And there is one thing that really grinds his gears: “When they say it’s ‘Lafayette-Lehigh.’ It makes no sense to me.” 

There is no argument this year about the game.

“My kids from Lafayette are not beating their chests. They are already eating humble pie. No discussion,” Konigsberg says. “No one is betting against Lehigh."