Shared classrooms, shared milestones and shared pride: Meet three families for whom Emory has become part of their DNA. 

Emory graduates enjoy a deep bond forged of shared memories from the classroom and campus. That bond is even stronger when your classmates and fellow alumni are also literally your family. Three families talk about how their common Emory experiences create joy, pride and support — and bring them even closer.

Adam Kashlan 28M and Rommi Kashlan 28M

“It’s really nice to have someone to lean on,” says Rommi Kashlan. His brother, Adam, agrees. “I’m not sure I would have passed anatomy without him.”

Both in their second year at Emory School of Medicine, the brothers are roommates as well as classmates. Living together again was an adjustment. “I’m a bit of a neat freak,” says Rommi, which prompts a knowing smile from Adam. “But the pros of being together are undeniable.”

Along with helping each other study, they take a divide-and-conquer approach to dining halls, going to different locations and texting what’s on the menu — or spotting free food for each other.

They also love being back in Atlanta, where they grew up, and say that because they’re medical students, family conversations constantly turn to medicine.

“Every single day a family member asks us to check a rash,” Rommi says. “We’re getting toe pictures during dinner,” Adam adds.

Jackie Hwang 95C, Hans Chang 95C 00M 06FM and Kevin Chang 29C

The Kashlan brothers aren’t the only family members who find their Emory experience doubled. For some, Emory has been a shared milestone across generations.

Alumni Jackie Hwang and Hans Chang returned to campus this August to help their oldest child, Kevin Chang, move into his fifth-floor room in Turman Hall. One of the first things they noticed was how much the dorms have leveled up since their own undergraduate days.

“They even have A/C,” Hwang says, laughing.

The couple always hoped Kevin would go to Emory but tried not to push too hard. Hans spent many years at Emory as an undergraduate, medical student and resident and says it was a formative experience. 

The couple’s bond is deep. They began dating in high school, but their relationship took root when they were students at Emory College of Arts and Sciences. “Emory is how we got closer and ended up getting married and building successful careers,” Hwang says. 

“When Kevin got in at Emory, he was so excited,” she says. “This is a good place for him.”

Ellen Bailey 63C 87B

For some families, the connection runs even deeper — woven not just through one household, but through multiple branches of a family tree. “Emory’s sort of the family business,” says Ellen Bailey, an 1836 Society member.

“My grandmother was a big Methodist, so she sent both of her boys to Emory,” Bailey recalls. Those boys were her father and uncle, who attended medical and law school at Emory, respectively.

Bailey left Emory in 1963 to get married but later returned for her MBA. Her daughter and granddaughter are also alumni. 

“The family has something like 13 or 14 Emory degrees,” she says. “I’ve been chair of the Emory Alumni Association, I’ve been on health care boards and was on the audit committee at Emory for 25 years. And my mother was a nurse at the hospital.”

Bailey says interviewing academics from other universities for Emory search committees has helped her compare Emory against its peers. 

“I think Emory gives you a moral core,” she says. “There’s a sense of ethics here and how you should conduct yourself with other people that’s very different from other schools.” She also says it’s a joy to share the Emory experience with her family, and the benefit goes deep. 

“There’s just something unique about Emory,” she adds.