Love is in the air on Washington and Lee’s campus with the Marriage Pact. 

“There is a buzz that hasn’t been here for a long time,” McKenzie Napier, ‘22, said. 

The Marriage Pact is a research-backed 50-question survey that tries to find people’s most compatible matches on their college campus, according to their website. It was created by Stanford University students in 2017, but has become very popular in recent months.

“We heard about it through friends at other schools, and thought it would be a good way to bring connection and fun to our campus, which has become so isolating because of COVID,” said the Washington and Lee student running the Instagram @wlumarriagepact. The student, as well as other members of the team, wish to remain anonymous until the matches are released on Monday evening or Tuesday. The Ring-tum Phi plans to talk to the members of the Washington and Lee team for the next edition. 

As of Saturday, Feb. 27, 66% of Washington and Lee’s undergraduates had taken the quiz.

Most people who took the survey did it in good fun. 

“I did it as a meme; a joke,” Mackenzie Walter, ’22, said, and that is the consensus of many members of the community. 

A lot of people did the survey with their friends or roommates. 

“I took the marriage pact because people in my apartment wanted me to. We were bored so we thought it would be a funny thing to do,” Lauren Hoagland, ‘22 said. 

Kelly Hayes, ‘24, took the survey with her roommate Gabriella Kogan, ‘24. Hayes said that she decided to take the quiz after it was sent to her by one of her friends. 

Most students found out about the Marriage Pact on Saturday, Feb. 20, when the Instagram page started to follow them. 

Hayes, who gave up Instagram for Lent, had no idea what was going on until one of her friends told her about it. 

Other students like Jacob Day, ’21, say they felt peer pressured to fill out the survey. 

The Marriage Pact has even found students studying abroad like Jin Ni, ‘22, who is studying in Oxford. Ni said that she is unsure of what she will do once she gets her match since she is so far away, but she is very curious about how students on campus will react. 

Duke, Dartmouth, and the University of Virginia are just three of the 17 colleges that have participated in this craze, but even though it is popular doesn’t mean that it has the highest success rate. 

A student from the University of Virginia said that she did not know anyone who had a successful match. 

But what should people expect with a survey that asks you to rate: “I need to be famous” and “I would be disappointed if my partner gained weight” on a scale of 1-7?

“There should have been a few more things that showcase parts of your personality that are like humor interests other than just foundational things which are very important,” Hoagland said. 

Hoagland, as well as others, found the survey good because it focused on the basics as well as aspects of a relationship they had not considered. 

“I’m not 100% sure how the algorithm works, but I know by taking the survey, it measures compatibility through answers you’ve given, and what values you prioritize. It has been very accurate and there have been many success stories of new friendships, relationships, and there’s even one couple that’s getting married!” said the student running @wlumarriagepact. 

For people already in relationships on campus, the Marriage Pact is a more difficult thing. On the Marriage Pact’s Instagram story, they encouraged everyone to take the survey, even couples, to encourage more matches. 

Will Medick, ‘21, and Christina Savory, ’22, have been dating for over a year. 

“It doesn’t make much sense for me to take it, if it’s matchmaking and I’m already dating somebody,” Savory said. 

“I’m already in a relationship,” Medick said. “I think for a lot of people it’s exciting. It’s fun to take for a lot of people. There might be somebody that matches really well with them, but I think a lot of people are going to be underwhelmed.” 

Georgie Gaines, ’22, who is single also decided not to participate. 

“I’m worried that I’d get paired with somebody that I don’t know, which is statistically quite probable, and I would just feel weird about it. Everyone says ‘Oh it’s so fun! It’s just a joke!’ What if he gets in contact with me? That’s terrifying,” Gaines said. 

In next week’s edition, we will tell you how successful  matches on our campus, the smallest to do the Marriage Pact, were.