Fox Common is the location for many fun events on a regular basis like speed dating night (Evanthia Tully/Connector)
This year’s Speed Dating event in Fox Common was celebrated right after Sexapalooza, ACE made history. They partnered with on-campus organization, Pride Alliance, who advocate for LGBT awareness. Together, they made the first ever sexual orientation inclusive speed dating night.
This event was conducted by arranging the tables in Fox Common in a circular formation. Participants were designated either on the inside or outside, and they had five minutes before one group of participants had to change seats to their left or right. The five minute time period seemed to be a good marker for the conversations that occurred that night. Kaitlyn Chretien, one such participant, said five minutes were, “not too short, but not too long.”
The catch this year, however, was that participants were given the choice to sit wherever they pleased. “Usually, it will be boys on one side, girls on the other, but we just had everybody sit wherever they want,” said Travis, a member of Pride Alliance. “So, obviousely there were going to be times where the sexual orientations didn’t mesch well.”
There were significantly more males than females at the event. While some participants were looking for love, many attended the event simply for the fun of the evening. Christina Chang, another participant, said, “I don’t think I met the love of my life.” Some participants even went at the behest of others. Thomas King pointed at Chang and Chretien and said, “it was their idea and I tagged along.”
Regardless of their motivations, the event did see a lot of people attend. “I would say this is [a] pretty solid turnout because obviously there was a really big turnout for Sexapalooza before, and we were hoping people would linger afterward,” said Travis. “That’s why they did it immediately after one another.”
Having attendees stay after Sexapalooza went a long way in making this event what it was. Some participants were already familiar with others because of the previous event. “It wasn’t too overwhelming for people because speed dating in this kind of forced social interaction can be very anxiety inducing for some people,” said Travis. “It wasn’t too big where that was a problem.”
Not everyone participated for the same reasons, but the event could certainly be considered a success. “I enjoyed it. It was great,” said Chretein.
