Attracted to AU because of family ties, DC’s charm, and impressive course offerings, Cami Smith, CAS/BA ’77, Michael Smith, CAS/BA ’79, Janet Benjamin Mockovciak, SIS/BA ’78, and John Mockovciak, Kogod/BSBA ’76, earned not only a valuable education, but connections that have lasted a lifetime. 

Michael attended AU following his older sister from their home in New Jersey, knowing it was “a great place to blossom, grow, and get an education.” Cami transferred from a women’s college in Boston after touring campuses up and down the East Coast. Janet was interested in the many schools DC had to offer and ultimately chose AU because of the School of International Service. John was attracted to DC’s charm and museums and found AU on the first page of an alphabetized college guidebook. 

Arriving to campus from diverse places and backgrounds, AU transformed the group as individuals and brought them together as friends and couples. 

Cami and Janet met on the sixth floor of Anderson Hall, the first co-ed floor of the university. 

They quickly became friends, and both stayed in DC for the summer, living off campus together for the next year with six other roommates in “Lowell House,” as it was nicknamed. Similarly, John and Michael lived together in a house just a few blocks from AU that infamously had just one bathroom. 

“We would study until the library closed down, then go party,” Cami said. 

The Smiths 

Michael and Cami first connected through the AU Sailing Club. With a small fleet of boats, they raced competitively against other colleges, usually on the Potomac River or in Annapolis, Maryland.  

“We enjoyed weekly meetings at the campus Tavern and took several trips to the Florida Keys and the Virgin Islands,” the couple said. 

Michael also enjoyed ultimate frisbee and helped form an event with the National Air and Space Museum throwing discs on the National Mall. Academically, he was interested in economics and environmental studies. After his first job on campus (setting up projectors for the Audio-Visual Office), he interned for the Marine and Fisheries Committee doing environmental research on Capitol Hill. Following graduation, Michael landed a full-time position as a legislative assistant and soon went to law school at George Mason University.    

Following her passion for the arts, Cami volunteered at The Kennedy Center during her time as a student. After graduation, she began a master’s degree in business administration for the arts. AU was one of only three universities in the country that offered that program at the time, she said. Cami eventually managed The Kennedy Center’s busy subscription office and worked there for over a decade.  She shared a love of frisbee with Michael and co-founded the first women’s ultimate team at AU. 

The couple moved to a cobblestone street in Georgetown beginning their lives together, and in 1982 they were married in Michigan. 

While living and working in DC, the Smiths welcomed their first son. They found themselves wanting to be home more and started considering places better fit for their needs as a family. 

After more than a decade in DC, the couple decided to move to Seattle after Michael visited on a business trip and fell in love with the city. Remaining there today, Michael has spent his career in real estate law and renewable energy and Cami is an artist. 

The Mockovciaks 

While attending AU, John says he worked full time to pay for room and board. However, he still made time to have fun. 

“I spent more time in the museums than I did at school,” he joked. 

Janet worked various jobs on campus, including the Admissions Office and as a secretary in the Student Government Office, where she enjoyed being at the center of student life. She helped with fundraising to build a new and improved library on campus. During her senior year, she had a work study job with PR firm located in the National Press Club building.  

The pair first met on an unsuccessful blind date but became good friends and ultimately ran into each other at a party off campus late one night. John asked Janet to dinner so they could catch up, but tired from the demands of work and school, she says he fell asleep at the table. However, Janet gave him one more chance and they ended up hitting it off.  

On February 4, 1978, in the parking garage of a jewelry store where John worked, he proposed to Janet. After she graduated that spring, the couple had a small wedding and started a new journey together, moving to Dallas, Texas, and building their life. 

John first got a job as a stockbroker and has spent his career managing wealth for hundreds of families across the country. In the 1980s, Janet became one of the youngest branch managers at the corporate headquarters of a savings and loan company. After more than 20 years in consumer banking, she left the workforce to care for their family, and for the past 25 years has been a volunteer in the not-for-profit space. 

Lifelong Connections 

Cami, Michael, Janet, and John have been there for each other through many stages of life.  

In their Georgetown house, Cami and Michael hosted an engagement party for the Mockovciaks before the friends parted ways when Janet and John moved to Dallas. 

Despite the distance between them, the group maintained their connection and bonded over big milestones. In 1988, The Smiths and Mockovciaks both welcomed baby boys and began to know each other not just as friends and spouses, but parents.  

“I remember the boys playing, having them together as babies,” Janet said. 

Over the years and miles that separate the group from AU, countless letters, telephone calls, texts, emails, and visits have held their connection strong. 

“It’s like an extended family,” Cami says.