Dating at Tulane

While many college dating scenes suffer because of gender gaps and are put under increased pressure with the approach of Valentine’s Day, Tulanians appear satisfied with the school’s casual attitude toward romance.

Estimates of the female-to-male ratio at universities nationwide range from 54 - 46 (Population Reference Bureau, 2005) to 57 - 43 (USAToday, 2005), and Tulane’s student body is reportedly 53 percent female and 47 percent male, according to the admissions statistics on Tulane’s Web site.

Many students have not noticed this gender gap when they go out or try to meet people and don’t see it as a dating obstacle.

Valentine’s Day, however, often breeds discontentment among those not in relationships.

“Valentine’s Day, above all other holidays, makes people feel worse about themselves,” sophomore Jourdan Nicaud said.

This year, though, it falls on the Sunday of Mardi Gras weekend. Not having to worry about feeling alone during the holiday this year has come as a relief to many single students, including some of Nicaud’s friends. Generally, though, many Tulanians don’t seem particularly worried about finding a relationship.

“It’s college,” senior Andrew Cunningham said. “A lot of people aren’t looking for relationships.”
Students said that relationships can be complicated by long-distance summers and plans to leave New Orleans after graduation.

“I’ve been with someone for a year and a half,” sophomore Ashley Motta said, “But it can be hard to find a relationship because everyone’s just trying to have fun. A lot of times, if one person is looking for something serious, the other just wants to have a good time. That’s just kind of the nature of college.”

While students such as sophomore Hannah Jegart recognize that Tulane has “more of a hook-up scene than a dating scene,” few see that as a problem.

Sophomores Emma Trimmer and Kevin Luptowski, for example, met on a drunk bus en route to a fraternity party.

“Going out is a good way to meet people, but not necessarily if you want it to go somewhere,” Trimmer said. “But with us, things just kind of fell into place.”

She recommended meeting people through clubs with social events, such as the Ultimate Frisbee team. With practices two times a week and parties on the weekend, teammates have a chance to get to know each other, she said.

“Tulane has enough opportunities to meet people other than the bars,” Cunningham said. “I have friends in the business fraternity, AKPsi, and they meet people there. One of my friends has two dates planned this weekend.”

Cunningham also suggested getting involved in academic organizations or Greek life, explaining that the Greek-dating scene is similar to the non-Greek scene.

“The only difference is that Greek people tend to date other Greek people, because that’s who they meet at mixers,” he said.

Dating at the law school is a little different with an increased gender gap, first-year law school student Caroline Conway said.

“There are a lot more guys than girls in the law school,” she said, and then laughed before adding, “But I still haven’t met someone.”

She suggested that meeting people in class is better than at the bars, something echoed by many other students, including Jegart, who suggested that people need to “stop looking for love at The Boot and The Palms.”

Like Trimmer and Luptowski, however, some students do end up finding relationships while going out.
Freshmen Addie Rubino and James Maceachern, for example, met on Maple Street.

“We met at a bar, outside of Rocco’s actually,” Rubino said. “That’s like the epitome of classy.”

Yet, the two were sitting in the Lavin-Bernick Center Wednesday night trying to plan a romantic Valentine’s Day despite the upcoming Mardi Gras festivities.