Love grows here: 3 UK couples who met as students

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 13, 2026) — When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you may be a student in the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE).

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, three couples — all UK alumni — share the roots of their love story.

Haleigh and Landon Young

When they were both students in a UK meat science course, Landon Young volunteered Haleigh Johnson to “bung the pig” for a class demonstration.

“Not a line you would find in a book about how to meet women,” said Gregg Rentfrow, UK extension professor for meat science, who taught the class.

But it worked — even though Haleigh wasn’t thrilled that Landon put her into that slightly embarrassing situation. Having already made the jump from classmates to friends, Landon and Haleigh were soon dating.

“I guess there’s just something special about locking eyes over a dead carcass,” Landon said.

Haleigh and Landon got married in 2020. They and their two children split their time between Versailles and New Orleans, where Landon has played professional football for the Saints since 2021.

Landon grew up in Caneyville and Lexington, raised around the Grayson County farm that his family has operated since 1932.

“Being around there was the best memories of me growing up, so I always wanted to be around animals,” Landon said.

Haleigh wasn’t raised on a farm, but she was obsessed with cows — wearing cow-patterned dresses and having cow-themed birthday cakes. Her family assumed it was “just a phase.”

But Haleigh decided to attend UK as a pre-veterinary animal sciences major. Landon, who played for the UK football team from 2016-20, made the same choice for his education.

“I was one of those statistics — you know, not everybody wants to go to vet school,” Haleigh said. “I stuck with the animal science degree. That’s how we met, and that was my foot in the door to the agriculture world.”

After graduating in May 2019, Haleigh worked for the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD) for a few years; however, it was not her first exposure to that nonprofit organization. Haleigh met a future colleague for the first time when the KCARD employee was a guest speaker in Haleigh’s UK agricultural economics class.

“The whole reason I had my career was not only because of the degree, but because of the relationships and the people you meet and the connections you have,” Haleigh said.

Haleigh’s knowledge and relationship with KCARD continue to be useful as the Youngs develop their own business plan. They are partnering with Landon’s father for a cattle operation in Caneyville, which currently consists of custom orders and cow-calf. The Youngs hope to farm full time after Landon finishes his football career.

“I wouldn’t have nearly the knowledge or connections that I had unless I went through UK agriculture,” Landon said. “Those people are books — history books, networking books. Those people know everyone who’s done something, so they are awesome people to be able to reach out to and say, ‘Hey, I’m learning.’”

The couple continues to stay in touch with Rentfrow, among other mentors and friends.

Rentfrow remembers the start of the Youngs’ relationship — and they’re not the only couple he’s watched connect during the meat science course.

“We have a standing joke that love happens in the Meats Lab,” he said. “For some reason, Cupid likes to hang out there.”

Debbie and Edwin Carter

Edwin, a master’s student in agricultural economics, met Debbie, an agricultural economics undergraduate who had recently transferred to UK, when Debbie took over Edwin’s old job as student assistant in the college’s Office of Student Relations.

A few weeks into their collaboration, one of Edwin’s fraternity brothers asked Edwin if he was dating Debbie.

“Not yet,” Edwin replied.

Edwin and Debbie got married on Aug. 25, 1984, exactly one year to the day after they met.

As a young man growing up in Hart County, Kentucky, Edwin knew he wanted to go to college and hoped to attend UK. That became possible when Mike Richey, who is now retired from a 50-year career in Martin-Gatton CAFE and the UK Office of Philanthropy, offered Edwin a scholarship. After finishing his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, Edwin continued his studies.

“I’m really glad that I went back to get my master’s,” Edwin said. “It helped me solidify the understanding I had.”

Edwin said his education gave him the tools he needed for his “varied” career in global procurement, commodity risk management and supply chain, including at The Coca-Cola Co.

Debbie was born in Connecticut but moved 13 times in her first 18 years.

“My home was wherever my parents were at the moment,” she said.

After two years at a college in Illinois, Debbie was ready for a fresh start. She spent a month or more poring over a phone book-sized manual of colleges. Though she had never been to Kentucky, Debbie chose UK and transferred.

“I was a 19-year-old kid who knew I wanted a big change, but I didn’t know what I wanted it to be,” Debbie said. “The faculty and staff were so welcoming and so warm to me. I felt like I had a place of belonging right away.”

Debbie graduated in 1985 and joined Edwin in Ohio, where he had started working. Debbie was a stay-at-home mother to their two sons, then she realized that “what I really wanted to do when I grew up was be a teacher,” she said.

After going back to school for a teaching degree, Debbie spent 15 years teaching first- and second-graders.

Now retired in Kennesaw, Georgia, after busy careers, the Carters are becoming more involved with the UK Martin-Gatton CAFE alumni community. The importance of UK’s agriculture program echoes in their lives.

“We both landed there at the same time,” Debbie said.

Clint Reynolds and Erica Taylor-Reynolds

Clint Reynolds and Erica Taylor were headed to the grocery store down the road from UK’s C. Oran Little Research Center in Versailles, Kentucky. Clint, an agricultural communications (now part of Community and Leadership Development) major, and Erica, an animal sciences major, were UK students who became friends while working at the farm.

Clint mentioned his longstanding plans to attend seminary and be a priest. Erica stopped driving in the middle of Versailles Road.

“You’re not going to be a priest,” Erica said. “You’re going to spend the rest of your life with me.”

Clint, who knew he really liked his friend, said okay.

“I thought I had my plan,” Clint said. “She changed it.”

Erica, from Johnson County, and Clint, from Campbellsville, were both drawn to UK because of their affinity for agriculture and UK sports. Erica’s agriculture teacher had worked for the UK swine unit when he was a student. Originally a pre-veterinary major who pivoted, Erica followed in his footsteps, living and working at the farm.

When Clint arrived to work on the farm’s maintenance staff, Erica’s friend met him first and told Erica she would love him.

“I kind of decided once I saw him that he shall be mine,” Erica said.

After they graduated in 2009, Erica said she “brought him back to the mountains." Clint and Erica have three children, ranging from ages 2 to 11. The family homesteads — with chickens and a 4-H rabbit, part of a 4-H Youth Development Program that helps youth learn companionship, showmanship and responsible ownership — and hopes to expand in the future.

Clint’s job at the farm shaped the rest of his career. He’s now head of the maintenance department at the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Training Center.

“Doing the maintenance work and finding out just how in demand that is, it gave me that much more appreciation for the hands-on aspect of what the College of Ag did,” Clint said. “It’s made me a much louder proponent of the trades, and I think the College of Ag was a wonderful starting spot for all that. It helped me get where I am now, which I think can be deemed a success by several standards.”

In her role at the Johnson County Conservation District, Erica said she still gets “to do quite a bit with agriculture.”

Erica jokes that her only marketable skill before college was her personality. Her education and work at the farm helped her learn what she could do well for a paid job. And, of course, she met her future husband.

“The swine unit is the reason I have everything that I have today,” Erica said.

Learn more about the admission process for UK Martin-Gatton CAFE.