Economics department sweethearts
By Madeline Marriott ’24
Darnell Azeez ’02 and Trish Azeez ’02 crossed paths for the first time on Trish’s move-in day. When she pulled up to Marquis Hall, three football players lounging on the lawn offered to help her move in her belongings. Darnell, her future husband, was among the three.
“At the time, there were very few inner-city Black people at Lafayette. Darnell is from the South Bronx, and I’m from West Philadelphia, so there was a connection and familiarity right away over that,” Trish says.
Darnell and Trish Azzeez ‘02 met at Lafayette as first-year students during Move-In.
Darnell and Trish both chose Lafayette because of the financial accessibility due to scholarships—Darnell for football and Trish for academics.
”If I was going to go to school and have it paid for, I wanted it to be at the place with the best possible academics to set me up for success in the future,” Darnell says. “Lafayette had great academics, was close to home, and recruited me for football.”
They became friends first, and their romance began during their first semester. The pair both started out in the engineering program before switching to economics soon after.
After a difficult start, the academic tide soon turned for Darnell as he went from scraping by and considering transferring schools to acing his economics classes.
Together, they took Financial Statement and Analysis with long-time economics professor Rosie Buciks, and Trish saw Darnell find his passion.
“I remember we all had to do this presentation, and he took it so seriously and was so on point,” Trish says of Darnell. “There was a moment when I realized that this was who he is. I loved seeing him shine professionally as a student.”
After graduation, Darnell started on the sales team at Lord, Abbett & Co., LLC, a New York-based investment firm. Aside from a short stint in Washington, D.C., at TAMRO Capital Partners, he has spent the last 20 years climbing the ladder at Lord, Abbett, and is now a partner and portfolio manager.
Darnell and Trish Azeez ’02 with their two children.
“Lafayette was a good prepping ground for me, not just for my career but for my whole life,” Darnell says. “I was introduced to all different types of people, and you learn that when you break down barriers, you actually have a lot more in common with people than you thought.”
Trish took a path with more “twists and turns” to get to her current role. She first spent a year in Philadelphia working for Vanguard before working for the Department of Commerce as an economist in Washington, D.C., and the Bank of Montreal in New York City as an assistant and research associate.
After giving birth to their first child in 2013, Trish became a stay-at-home mom to their two children until just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Darnell is always the one who had the big picture in mind—which is probably why he loved macroeconomics so much—and I think he saw that I had taken on the super-mom role for too long and needed to do something else,” Trish says.
Trish looked for a franchise to purchase, searching for something that prioritized community engagement, staying physically active, and participation for her children. She settled on Premier Martial Arts and planned to work as an owner and manager before pandemic-related staffing issues threw a wrench in the works.
With no prior martial arts experience, she ended up training, earning a black belt, and teaching classes herself.
“I think it all happened with just the right timing,” Trish says. “It all turned out the way it was supposed to.”
Darnell and Trish consider their time at Lafayette an inflection point for their family.
“We both had rough beginnings, and Lafayette was the catalyst for us that changed circumstances for our family for generations,” she says. “I didn’t realize at the time how much goodness was coming out of it, and it felt pretty lonely at times, so I would recommend for anyone who feels that way to just look for the good and be open to new experiences and relationships.”