Love Over Rivalry: Will and Hope Woodhouse

What degrees did you earn from your respective universities?

Hope studied advertising and political science. I (Will) studied public policy at Duke. We both graduated in May 2014, and I’m now at UNC School of Medicine, and Hope is working in Chapel Hill.

Where are you living now?

We live in Chapel Hill near UNC.

When did you get married? Where?

We got married in Raleigh at the Jones Chapel at Meredith College on June 15, 2014 -- only about a month after we graduated!

What was the initial reaction of hearing where the other attended school?

Well we have been dating since we went to high school together in Raleigh, long before either of us had a big stake in the rivalry. I (Will) grew up an NC State fan, and Hope grew up a Virginia Tech fan, but we learned we'd have a little bit stronger rivalry than before when we decided where to go to college. But I think we were both really excited to find out where the other had decided, since they are both great schools, and we could still be near each other.

Was basketball something that sparked debate early on? Does it still spark debate? Was/is the debate friendly, heated, light-hearted, etc.?

We've both always watched basketball growing up in the area, so we talk about it often. Since we just got married this past June, we're still getting used to watching games together. It probably took Hope a while to get used to how frequently I watch Duke basketball, since I don't think she realized how much I like to have the game turned on when they're playing.

I (Will) would always wear the same blue suit in Cameron when I was an undergrad, and sometimes some of my gameday antics would make it on TV or social media.

Our freshman year of college it took us several days to talk again normally after the first basketball game of the season. That was the game when Nolan Smith led Duke to a huge second half comeback win in Cameron, and seeing me yelling and painted blue on TV probably didn't help Hope get over the loss any quicker.

Can you watch Duke-UNC games together? Describe what it is like to watch a game together. Is it tense? Is there yelling or teasing? Are there rules you agree upon beforehand?

We haven't watched a Duke-UNC game basketball game together, so I'm not sure what the arrangement will be for next Wednesday [when UNC plays Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium]. We did go to Durham to see the Duke-UNC football game this past year, and the Duke-UNC basketball game last year in Chapel Hill. Unfortunately for me, Hope's team won both times, so she handled it a lot better than I did. She was quite nice about it, but I didn't take those losses too well.

Who do you root for when either team plays a separate opponent? For example, if Duke plays Kansas or if UNC plays Kentucky?

We've both tried to either stay neutral or be supportive of each other when our team isn't playing. It's taken a lot more work than we might have previously thought though. Sometimes those old Cameron Crazie habits are hard to break! 

Is it Love or Rivalry? 

It's both, of course!