The Marriage Pact won’t work at Hillsdale. Courtesy | Picryl

Valentine’s Day happened earlier this week, and that girl you’ve Hillsdated for a year is not going to wait forever for you to ask her out. Maybe you’re afraid. Maybe you just don’t have proper communication skills.

Some schools are switching to the Marriage Pact to help students find love. The Marriage Pact isn’t a terrible idea for most of the big schools using it, but it is not right for Hillsdale College. Hillsdale’s culture is much more traditional than schools such as the University of Michigan and Notre Dame.

Two Stanford University students came up with the idea in 2017 as part of an economics class project. 

The Marriage Pact starts with a survey. Participants fill it out and then an algorithm matches individuals to each other. Unlike most dating apps, the Marriage Pact does not use pictures. 

Hillsdale could become a partner school and participate in this project. But given the culture at Hillsdale, it seems like a dangerous road to travel down. 

According to the Marriage Pact website, “The questionnaire asks about some sensitive things. Here’s why: the idea behind the Marriage Pact is to find your best backup plan—that person you could marry if you’re both 30 and still single.”

Because of this, the questionnaire focuses on four types of questions: contact information, demographics, values, and meta (your thoughts on the actual questions given to you). This is part of the main event; however, as the website points out, feedback or other questions might be asked before being matched with their partner. 

One of the questions, as reported by the online newspaper “Insider,” is “Is there such a thing as unconditional love.” Another is, “Do I have free will?”

In addition to the general Marriage Pact, the company is now set to release two new options: Soulmate Radar and Checkmate. According to the company website, the soulmate radar will tell a student when a person walking by could be a person’s potential soulmate.. Checkmate will “Check your long-term compatibility score with anyone.”

Hillsdale College has a unique dating community. This pact may lead to more drama than healthy relationships, especially given the high stakes of getting married by the time one graduates.

And yes, relationships should be built on value questions. The Marriage Pact asks the right questions; however, as stated, Hillsdale does not need to partake. Bigger universities can do the experiment well because if you are matched and don’t like the person, you will most likely barely ever see them. At a small school like Hillsdale, you are bound to see that person.

While the Pact is meant for finding someone if you are 30 and alone, it would be better to be alone than just attempt to marry someone because an algorithm says the two would make a great match. There is so much more to relationships than just a few questions. While you don’t have to marry the person matched to you, it creates a certain atmosphere in which a relationship doesn’t come about naturally. 

Nowadays, the pressure on getting married right away is waning, but it still exists. An experiment like this, mixed with the traditional values that several students at Hillsdale espouse would create an undue angst that students don’t need more of. 

The Pact does ask some deep questions that can probably provide for the framework of a solid relationship. But there are better options than the Marriage Pact to find true love. 

Instead of just waiting for an algorithm to tell you who to date, just go ask that girl you have been hillsdating out.