Speed dating has struck a nerve on campus.
In a matter of days, more than 500 students signed up to participate this month in Psychology Prof. Eli Finkel’s speed dating project. The project studied romantic chemistry and initial attraction.
Female students filled registration in just two days. Male students filled their spots in five.
But only about 170 people were able to participate in the five-day study that arranged 12 four-minute dates for each candidate. About 330 students were turned away.
The study may be completed, but the overwhelming response to this new approach to dating has not been forgotten.
As soon as speed dating matches began going on coffee dates and e-mailing each other, the Northwestern Class Alliance, a group aimed at fostering community, began considering ways to continue the dating frenzy.
Non-experimental speed dating events and online compatibility tests are some of the ideas NCA President Stephanie Yang suggested.
Even if students don’t find love through dating, NCA members said the meet-and-greet atmosphere helps strengthen community.
Speed dating has ‘spiced up’ NU — a university with a reputation for having an empty dating scene, said Yang, a Weinberg sophomore.
“There are people who go up and down Sheridan road and say, ‘Hi,’ to each other now because they met at speed dating,” Yang said. “If they don’t get an actual date, at least they can make an acquaintance.”
Why did speed dating work?
It helps students step outside of their group of friends, Yang said.
“The dating scene — it doesn’t exist,” said Weinberg sophomore Mary Rhee, who participated in the study. “If anything, it’s definitely a very small, small scene. So it was good to meet people outside of parties and class.”
Rhee didn’t find a date, but she said she made a couple of friends that she wanted to hang out with.
Scrolling through hundreds of e-mails from students asking to participate in the already full study, Finkel’s graduate assistant Paul Eastwick said he was not surprised that college students were so interested.
“It’s a better way to get a sense of intentions,” said Eastwick, a NU social psychology graduate student who studies relationships. “You know they are all there for a similar purpose.
“I would appreciate getting past the annoying parts (of dating) and find out who is eligible and just get to the fun stuff,” Eastwick added.
Study results are several months away, but Finkel and Eastwick said they hope it provided students with a successful dating alternative.
“I hope we make some couples,” Eastwick said.
Reach Stephanie Chen at
[email protected] and Kendra Marr at [email protected].