Thanks to Curtis Bateman, CCAS MA '08, and Nancy (Perschbacher) Bateman, CCAS MA '07, for sharing their story!
Where did you meet?
Fall 2005, during the campus tour on the second day of orientation.
Curtis: I slept through the first day of student orientation, thinking that the second day was actually the first. Whoops. In hindsight, it was a good way to make an impression since I arrived as this “mysterious” new guy in a class comprised of only 10 men and 40 women. During the tour, I made a joke as we entered the Shops at 2000 Penn. I had never been there before, so when we entered what I thought was a row house but inside was a massive market square, I shouted “What is this place, Diagon Alley?” referencing Harry Potter. Only a few people laughed, but one of them was Nancy. It was a good sign! We shared lunch with a few other classmates and eventually ended the tour at the library. I sat at a computer terminal checking my email when Nancy came over, tapped my shoulder, and said she hoped to see me around. She didn’t stop to chat and kept walking, so I quickly turned around and replied the same. I tried to recall her name but, like an idiot, I completely forgot it.
Nancy: Curtis showed up the second day of orientation and just breezed right in acting like he hadn’t skipped a beat. We all sort of laughed and said, “who does this guy think he is?!” But, it was just my first experience seeing him roll with the punches and assimilate himself into a group seemingly effortlessly. He was making jokes and chatting with everyone throughout the tours and sessions. Within a few minutes it felt like he’d been with us from the start.
[caption id="attachment_14776" align="alignright" width="300"] An engagement photo from 2009.[/caption]
What were your first impressions of each other?
Curtis: I thought Nancy was striking, fashionable, very intelligent, and quite professional. She was out of my league! Unfortunately, we didn’t share any classes that first semester. But after a few weeks, a mutual friend and classmate named Erin Blasco just happened to invite both of us to a birthday party for her roommate’s boyfriend… or something. Erin quickly became the third wheel as Nancy and I dominated the conversation and geeked out about Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc.
Nancy: Curtis had spent the entire summer outside teaching swimming and boating at a boy scout camp. He had long hair, bleached by the sun and was tan and super relaxed. He looked and acted nothing like the rest of the guys in Washington, D.C. Between missing orientation and then clearly forgetting my name, I figured he was sort of a flake. Whoops! He’s actually a very focused and dedicated person, he’s just also very chill and funny. I had no classes with him but somehow all my friends did and they kept telling me about this great, funny, super smart guy, Curtis. When we finally got to hang out at that friend of a friend’s birthday party I realized we had so, so much in common both academically and personally.
Do you have an #onlyatGW moment that you shared as a couple?
Soon after we started school at GW, the museum studies department hired a new office manager, Mariko Murray. Nancy was head of the museum studies student's association and was in the office all the time, and Curtis is just friendly with everyone, so we quickly became close with Mariko. She guided us through our time at GW academically and personally. Since we lived in Foggy Bottom after we graduated, we’d come by the office often with our dog, Triley, to check in with her and chat. She came to our wedding in 2010 and was over the moon about the birth of our daughter in 2014. I remember an alumni holiday party where she just carried our baby around the whole time while we got to chat and mingle with our friends.
[caption id="attachment_14777" align="alignleft" width="200"] The Bateman family in 2018.[/caption]
Mariko became a part of our family and neither of us experienced a closeness or devotion anywhere like that at our universities. She was a shining example of how one person can really make a difference, even at as big a school as GW. When she passed away everyone in the department, former and current students and professors, came together to celebrate her life and work. We’ll always remember that.
Tell us about your last visit to campus, or how the school has remained important in your life.
In 2016 we attended an alumni party at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum while a museum conference was in town. Several of our good friends and former classmates had flown in for the conference so it was a mini reunion of sorts. So much had changed: most of us are married now and have kids, we’ve all moved to museums around the country, the department is full of new professors and museum studies had a new office. But at the end of the day we were just the same group of kids that flocked to D.C. for an adventure over a decade before. Our daughter Penny, then a wild two-year-old, was busy running around the grass area in front of the biology dept. to the amusement of our friends and colleagues. I think we got scolded by a guard for carrying alcohol past the barrier of the party and we all chuckled to ourselves. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It was a great day.
Anything else you'd like to share?
We met in 2005, married in 2010, welcomed our first daughter Penny in 2014 and our second daughter Zelda in 2018. We live in Alexandria, Virginia. Curtis is the museum curator at the headquarters for the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers (IBEW) in D.C. Nancy is the artifacts registrar at the National Building Museum in D.C.