Alumni Story: Golden Girls

Golden Eagles turned Golden Girls: The Friendship That Took Flight at UC (back row – Mandy Powers, Lora Ely Hughes, Amy Robinson, front row – Sara Harris Dillon, Erica May)

For those of us (yes, gals AND guys) who grew up on the chick flicks of the late ’90s and early 2000s, this story is for you. It has all the gal-pal energy of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and Now and Then. But if you ask these women, they’ll tell you their friendship leans a little more The Golden Girls.

For 26 years, five members of the University of Charleston Class of 2000 have made one promise to each other: no matter what life throws their way, they will carve out one weekend every year to simply be together.

What began as a post-graduation beach trip quietly became something much bigger—a tradition, a commitment, and ultimately, a lifelong sisterhood. Today, the “GW” title of their group chat still stands for Girls Weekend.

Like many college friendships, theirs wasn’t formed all at once. Erica and Mandy’s story actually began long before college. Their families were connected through Erica’s aunt and Mandy’s mom, who were best friends, making the two girls friends from the age of eight while growing up in southern West Virginia.

When Erica arrived at UC, with a full social battery, she wasted no time expanding her circle. She met Lora during freshman year while playing soccer together and Amy entered the picture through the interior design program. “Our desks sat right next to each other,” Erica remembers. “Amy never said a word, but I decided she was going to talk!” She did and by sophomore year, they had become close friends.

Sara met Erica and Lora freshman year in the dorms and were connected through basketball, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and another UC connection—Lora happened to be her resident assistant sophomore year.

Junior year brought the final piece of the puzzle when Mandy moved into the off-campus apartment Erica and Lora shared.

Senior year, all but one were back to campus living. Sara and Mandy roomed together as psychology majors. Amy lived across the hall. Erica was next door. Lora lived off campus but was there constantly.

The Girls Weekend tradition began simply enough. After graduation came the classic beach trip. That fall, Amy had moved to Richmond, Virginia, so everyone traveled there to visit.

“We just never ran out of reasons to get to each other,” Erica says. “It evolved into this annual commitment to our friendship very early on.” As careers, marriages, children, and responsibilities multiplied, the trips became even more important.

In the early to mid-2000s, before group texts ruled everyone’s phones, communication happened through an email chain. Amy was living in Maryland. Mandy and Lora stayed near Charleston. Sara landed in Charlotte. Erica was in Raleigh.

Technology changed, but their commitment didn’t. Today, their group text rarely goes a day without someone checking in. Mandy faithfully hosts “Friday Roll Call,” where everyone shares weekend plans, life updates, or simply lets the others know they’re doing okay.

Girls Weekend has one important rule. No husbands, No kids. Well…almost. “There are a few photos proving babies snuck along a couple years,” they admit. “But only because they were tiny.”

The weekend itself isn’t packed with sightseeing or elaborate itineraries and that’s intentional. Lora shares, “As for my favorite trip, I feel like the obvious one would be our trip to Iceland, but I think the best ones are the ones where we are nowhere special and spend our time visiting and just being together. I mean, there’s not much to do in Marlinton, West Virginia. Left to just our own devices we have a blast just being around each other.”

Trip traditions include pedicures, homemade meals inspired by trending Pinterest recipes, card games—especially Lora’s beloved Phase 10, though not everyone has the patience to finish all ten phases—and small, thoughtful gifts exchanged with one another. One year Mandy surprised everyone with matching Golden Girls sweatshirts. Another year Erica created a framed photo featuring the words that have quietly become the group’s motto: Find Your People.

One very special gift came from Amy a couple years ago. The UC brick engraved with their five names is now a permanent fixture on campus and reminder of the bonds formed here.

To document these weekends, they have The Book. Mandy is the designated keeper of The Book. Well, books, there are now two volumes with photos dated from 1998-now. Every Girls Weekend includes adding photographs from the previous year’s trip alongside handwritten memories, funny moments, and inside jokes that only the five of them fully understand. Like the time they traveled to Washington, DC and Erica’s lack of recall caused her to reference the “tall skinny monument” and it became a running joke.

These books are the physical history of this friendship and a meaningful treasure to them all. Amy adds, “From unsuccessfully avoiding sunburns to braving major snowstorms, each location has a memory that makes it hard to pick a favorite. My own family thinks of them as extended family, and my daughters see them as role models and want to find similar lasting friendships.”

Over the years, Girls Weekend has taken them everywhere from beaches to mountains and across the Atlantic. Their farthest adventure was Iceland, though Sara unfortunately missed that trip. One of the most memorable weekends, however, happened much closer to home. They call it the “Boo-Foo Year.”

Erica’s great-grandmother was celebrating her 100th birthday in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, giving the group an excuse to gather in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. No cell service, no neighbors. The perfect setting for what everyone jokingly believed was the beginning of a horror movie.

Then, they accidentally locked the keys inside the car. Fortunately, Amy—the smallest member of the group—volunteered (or volun-told) for rescue duty, climbing through the trunk and squeezing between the back seats to unlock the doors. Another story added to The Book.

The annual destination is loosely rotated between their hometowns, allowing everyone a little less expensive year in the rotation. But where they go has never mattered nearly as much as the fact that they go. “In this day of technology, so many people rely on social media to keep up with each other,” Erica says. “We decided that even though we share pictures and talk in the group chat, we want to be together in person.”

Over the last 26 years, these women have stood beside one another through weddings, divorces, career changes, the joy of welcoming children, and the heartbreak of losing parents. “My favorite trip would be probably 2008- Ashville. I had just lost my mom a few months before and it was a time I needed my friends the most. Plus, our cabin we had was so amazing. These girls are the family I get to choose,” shared Erica.

Turning 50 is on the horizon for these ladies but everyone still plays the same role they did when they were 20.

Mandy remains the sweet one no one can stay mad at. Lora is the dependable mama bear. Sara offers the best advice while happily flying by the seat of her pants. Amy is endlessly compassionate and simply wants everyone around her to be happy. And Erica? Still the loud and crazy one.

Despite their different personalities, they’ve somehow always fit together. Sara describes it as follows, “these four girls are among the most important people in my life. Through every high and low, they’ve been my constant—always there with unconditional love and support. I can always be my unfiltered self with them because we all know each other better than anyone. This is a friendship that will last a lifetime. I just know that one day we are going to be 90 years old still singing Girls Want to Have Fun at the top of our lungs.”

Despite all the girl power, coming of age story vibes this gives, they insist they’re really representative of the cast of The Golden Girls. Erica assigned everyone their character. Yes, there are 4 Golden Girls and 5 alumni here, so the math doesn’t work but…

Mandy is Rose. Lora is Dorothy. Amy is a blend of Blanche and Rose. Sara is Sophia. Erica is Blanch. And they all own it.

College has a remarkable way of introducing us to people who become part of our story for a season. Every so often, though, it introduces us to people who become part of our story forever. Mandy says, “I literally cannot pick a favorite trip because they are all my favorites. These girls are my soulmates in a lot of ways. They’re an A-storyline not a B-storyline in the movie that is our lives. It’s enough to sustain years, decades, a lifetime.”

What began in residence halls, classrooms, soccer fields, FCA meetings, and shared apartments at the University of Charleston has become a lifelong friendship. “These girls are the ones that will always, without doubt, have my back. There’s comfort in having them,” says Lora.

And every year, no matter where the map leads them next, these five Golden Eagles continue to do something beautifully simple, they find their way to their people.