The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
Aaron Voeks
Love was in the air in the Laird room on Valentine’s Day as singles from across campus gathered for Centertainment’s speed dating event.
More than 50 students signed up for the event last Friday and even more students walked in as the event began.
Photo by Morgan Schwantz.
Students speed dating on Valentine’s Day.
“I think it went as well as it could have, I was very happy with the turn out,” said Emily Wisniewski, a music education major at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point who coordinated the event
The Laird room was lined with tables adorned with candles for students to talk to their various “dates.” Each person had less than two minutes to introduce themselves and talk with the person sitting across from them until they rotated to the next person.
Of the population of students that showed up, the majority were male, which proved to be a bit of a surprise to some students that attended, but did not dampen their spirits.
“I think it’s cool that they offer events for non-couples on Valentine’s Day,” said Joe Kluetz, a psychology major at the university.
John Schoneman was in charge of running the event and was there early making sure that everything was in order before students arrived.
“There is a lot of a logistical stuff to worry about,” Schoneman said.
The event itself was planned last semester by Wisniewski who was asked by Centertainment to plan something on the holiday.
“One of my dates fell on Valentine’s Day so I figured some kind of dating event would be great,” Wisniewski said.
Wisniewski was also in charge of making posters and running promotion for the event.
“I got a lot of emails saying the sign up sheet was full and asking if they could still come to the event,” Wisniewski said.
Throughout the course of the event, students had a sheet with the first names of everyone they talked to and marked whether or not they wanted their contact information after the event. Every pair of students that both marked an interest in contacting each other was emailed that person’s information later in the week.
Speed dating seemed to be a success as the air buzzed with excitement throughout the course of the event.
Some lucky students who showed mutual interest in each other will soon have the opportunity to go on dates, hopefully lasting longer than two minutes, but everyone involved had the chance to beat the single’s blues on Valentine’s Day.
