It was the start of the school year in the mid-1960s when Steve, a sophomore from Chicago who “wasn’t religious at the time,” and never attended mixers, decided to show up at a Hillel event. He walked in with “zero expectations,” no date, and no idea that his life was about to change. Rusti, a freshman from Milwaukee and a proud Interlochen musical theater alumna, tagged along with new Jewish friends who were going. She didn’t even know what a mixer was.
But the music was great. She danced freely. And when Steve saw her, he felt something stir. “I fell in love right away,” he remembers. “Rusti was a great dancer, and being at Michigan meant she was smart.” He asked her to dance. She said yes. And that moment, they now say, was bashert.
Soon came Baskin-Robbins dates on Steve’s motorcycle, study sessions at the UGLI, and Steve patiently tutoring Rusti through chemistry. He stood by a pillar outside Angell Hall just to watch her walk out after class. He’d never seen a play, but he started to take humanities courses; Rusti’s influence was already shaping the future physician in ways he couldn’t have predicted.
Their commitment grew quickly. Steve was accepted to Yale Medical School after three years at Michigan, and Rusti accelerated her studies, graduating in three years so they could marry in Milwaukee in 1968. Today, at ages 79 and 78, they’ve built a life rooted in Jewish leadership and community: two children (daughter Stacia teaches Sunday school; son Evan is a rabbi), four grandchildren, and decades of involvement with organizations like JNF, JCRC, and Congregation Shalom in Milwaukee.
Through it all, Michigan Hillel has remained their “bookend”—the place where it all began and the place that continues to call them back every summer. “Had I not gone to that mixer,” Steve reflects, “I may have stayed away from Judaism the rest of my life. College is when your identity forms. You need an anchor. Hillel does that.”
Rusti and Steve were among the first to sign up for Hillel’s Centennial Celebration Weekend, March 13–15, 2026, at The Big House. “We never forget Ann Arbor is where we met,” Rusti says. “It’s magical.”
Join Rusti, Steve, and generations of Wolverines as Michigan Hillel celebrates 100 years of community, connection, and Jewish pride. Let’s make this once-in-a-century weekend unforgettable. RSVP online by February 23, 2026.
