“So tell me the story of how you met,” I said as I sat down with Dr. Sean Evans and Dr. Sharon Evans.
And 45 minutes later they finished answering my question. While gazing into each other’s eyes as they reminisced about their Union love story, they let me into a small sliver of their lives together and apart.
These two made Union history by becoming the first interfaculty marriage in 2009. Two unlikely people crossed paths in a long, complicated way, yet with a story that has the Lord’s direction written in every piece of it.
Dr. Sean Evans, the chair of the department of political science, has been at Union since 2000, Union being his first and only full-time academic position. He was well established when Dr. Sharon Evans (Edwards at the time) arrived as a professor of nursing in 2007. Tennessee was Sharon’s 14th state to live in, so she was looking for permanence and putting down roots at Union.
“What was your favorite state?” I asked Sharon.
“Why, Tennessee of course–” Sharon said.
“Because that’s where she met me,” Sean interrupted with a smirk on his face. “All that searching on the internet for single political science professors paid off.”
“Don’t listen to a word he says,” said Sharon while laughing and shaking her head.
I learned very quickly that people of my generation aren’t the only ones who like to gossip, set people up on dates, and tease each other about getting a boyfriend or girlfriend. Even in the early 2000s, the ladies at Union station were trying to set everyone up with Dr. Sean Evans, the most eligible bachelor in Union’s small pool of single faculty members.
“Every time a new single woman came on campus, I was informed,” said Sean. “So you can imagine that I was a little distant because you don’t really want to be talked about on campus, and as faculty, if something didn’t work, we could spend our entire careers at the same institution.”
As Sharon began her career as a professor of nursing, the department was working to develop a new Doctor of Nursing program, and she was tasked with developing the syllabus for the program. Part of this included needing to consult Dr. Evans for his opinion on some aspects of political science and economics.
In the meantime, Sharon’s new friends were telling her about Sean, but she was very apprehensive. She was content being single and had not been on a date since her very painful divorce thirteen years prior. She was not broken, and she did not need to be fixed. She was completely satisfied in her life of singleness and was not looking to date anyone.
“I basically said, God, if you want me to marry again, you’re going to have to put a sign on his forehead and make it so clear,” she said, “And even then, I’m going to check him out and find out from other people who I trust who he is.”
Sharon eventually emailed Sean strictly to ask about the syllabus she was constructing. As they continued to email back and forth, it was evident that there was more here than just a friendship between two faculty members.
At one of Sharon’s new faculty meetings, Sean was speaking on a panel discussion. Although they still had not met in person, they both recall their first impressions of each other.
“She was smiling, and I was like ‘she has a beautiful smile,’” Sean said as he remembered spotting her from across the room. “And that’s the first thing I noticed about her.”
Sharon noticed how he was constantly coming back with humorous responses to questions, and this was what attracted her to Sean. It takes a lot to get Sharon to relax and be herself, and Sean could almost automatically do that. This was a unique quality found in Sean.
Soon after this faculty panel, Sean finally asked Sharon on a date, and because he knew she sang in the choir, he chose to take her to the symphony. He was attentive to the details in her life and continued to pursue Sharon even in her apprehension.
While this first date sounds romantic, it came after Sharon punctured her eye with car keys and had to cancel their actual first date. Because of the delay, the first time they met was at a Christmas party at former Union President David S. Dockery’s house.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived, and the two finally met in person. Their mutual friends introduced them, and Sharon’s response was to “lightly” punch Sean in the arm. Punching him in the arm? Not the typical, romantic, first encounter we were all hoping for.
As they finally went on a few dates, the one concern was “going public” on Union’s campus about this new, budding relationship. What if it didn’t work out? How would people respond? What would the ladies at Union station say? Their thoughts were all over the place, and they knew “going public” would result in gossip upon gossip.
Before they could “go public,” Sharon had one important task. She still needed to check out Sean’s character. And who else would be a better judge of character than the president himself? Yes, that’s right, Sharon went straight to Dockery.
As she told Dockery that she was dating Sean Evans, his face lit up with the biggest smile ever. “And I looked at him, and I said, ‘I think your face just answered some of my questions,’” she said.
As she exited Dockery’s office and walked down the stairs, she heard an audible voice say, “he’s the one,” and almost tripped down the stairs. This confirmed any worries or doubts she had. The Lord was clearly lining up two people’s lives and fitting them perfectly together.
As they continued to date and become more official and open about their relationship, they decided a basketball game would be the first Union event they would attend together. As you can imagine, this was filled with students taking pictures of Sharon and asking everyone they knew who this new girl Dr. Evans was dating. Sharon heard about herself at the beauty salon and the grocery store, and basically everywhere she went.
News travels fast. Especially about the new, hot, faculty romance on campus.
One year after their first date, Sean proposed with an elaborate scavenger hunt, and they were married five months later.
Thirteen years later, The Evans have put down roots here and are on a journey in academia together. Sharon’s hope of permanence was found in her marriage and life here in Jackson.
Working at the same institution has been a positive experience for them because it comes with a separation, as their jobs are different, but allows them to see each other more often and understand the struggles that come with being a professor.
“The good thing about working here is that we’re both teachers, so we understand the trials, and triumphs, and struggles of teaching, so it’s easier to encourage and support each other,” Sean said. “There’s also the downside of being in the same environment, and it would be nice to get out of higher education every once in a while.”
Their love story is like so many others. Complicated, intricate, romantic, difficult, yet faced with the goodness of the Lord in bringing them together at just the right time in their lives. For two singles in their 40s, it might be unlikely to meet at an institution where you are in two polar opposite departments. And it might seem unlikely to stay at the same university for your entire career. But the Evans display the joys and hardships of marriage in the most graceful of ways, always pointing out how to do ministry together rather than apart.
“It’s just good for us,” Sharon said. “It’s wonderful to be in a place where our priorities match with the values of the institution. And we care about our students, and we love having students in our home. There was one time I had 60 students in our home. That was a lot of fun. There are lots of good things. Many joys. And many reasons to stay.”
