Walking into the Off-Campus Lounge in James Dunn Hall on Valentine’s Day, one was met with the lively chatter of students looking for love. Red paper hearts decorated the walls, smiles decorated faces and the crooning voice of Elvis singing “Pretty Woman” echoed throughout the room.
These were some of the sights at the Irish Society’s Valentine’s Day Speed Dating Event, held on Feb. 14. Students attended not just to find love, but to make friendships on campus.
“Romance? Awkward sometimes, I’m gonna say it!” said Brie Sparks, acting president of the Irish Society. “Because it’s happening on Valentine’s Day, it’s a little bit romance, but it’s really just an opportunity for all of us young adults to be like, ‘hey, how do I make friends?’”
Sparks said fostering campus connections, romantic or platonic, was the main point of the night. As an introverted person themselves, they emphasized the importance of making connections at school to enhance the enjoyment.
“Just find a few other weird little guys to talk to and it will be good for you, I promise,” they said.
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The event was an hour and a half of meeting new people, playing fun games and winning prizes. Every five minutes, hosts Gabrielle Campbell and Ian Curran called upon participants to dance around the room to a new partner and conversation continued.
Decked out in bright pink attire and heart-shaped sunglasses, Campbell asked the participants questions like “what is your hidden talent?” The lounge came alive as one student contorted their leg behind their head.
“I saw some people exchanging numbers and everything and they were super into all the questions,” she said. “Everyone seemed to get along super well and it was really fun to see.”
Lucas Guitérrez-Robert, a speed-dating participant and STU alum, said they may not have found love, but the experience of making new connections on campus made it all worth it.
“I met a lot of really cool people and it was a lot of fun. Got my ass absolutely handed to me multiple times over in arm wrestling, but if it entertains people, then I’m doing my job.”
Guitérrez-Robert said that for them, a speed-dating event was a happy medium considering the state of modern dating. Between dating apps and ghosting, they have become “cynical” about finding love in the digital age. It was mainly because of their friend’s convincing that they even attended the speed-dating event.
“I’ve been single for a very long time. I think you assume the sun is gonna rise every single morning when it might not, but you assume,” they said.
As a queer person, Guitérrez-Robert mentioned that dating apps are not ideal. Even for their female friends, they often feel uncomfortable with online dating.
“It feels very kind of pressured and kind of predatory. As a queer person, especially, it’s always kind of like a mixed bag. You don’t know exactly what you’re gonna get a lot.”
It is not just the people on the dating apps that make them uncomfortable, but the way dating apps function and change the way they perceive dating.
“It all feels so gamified and competitive in a weird way. It’s brilliant marketing to have these apps kind of give you this weird almost Shopaholic rush,” they said. “Definitely doesn’t sit right with me.”
This is why speed dating was a comfortable option for Guitérrez-Robert, as they prefer a more organic way of meeting a romantic interest — just like their parents, who met because a friend introduced them to each other.
“It feels more organic,” they said. “It definitely feels a hell of a lot more organic than scrolling through Tinder.”
In the end, Guitérrez-Robet’s cynical mindset was overturned by the fun of the event, where they made new friends and lost a few fun competitions. This, said Sparks, was the Irish Society’s goal for the night: to simply facilitate a good time and appeal to the wider STU community.
“We feel like it’s time for the societies to take that on again, and go back to what a really thriving society community we had before.”
