A few minutes after 6 p.m. yesterday, Lucy Seyfarth '10 sat at a table in the North Wayland Lounge and began filling out a biographical information form. She listed her hobbies (sailing and traveling), favorite TV shows ("The Office" and "Scrubs") and her preference for neatness (1, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the neatest).
A few minutes later, she stood up and prepared to mingle with a group of about 20 complete strangers in the hopes of finding the perfect mate.
Roommate, that is.
"I'm a little freaked out right now," Seyfarth said.
Taking a page from the book of speed dating, the jaunty matchmaking gimmick that stormed major American cities in the late 1990s, the Office of Residential Life held what it called a "Matching Social" last night for roommate-less students looking for that perfect someone with whom to enter the housing lottery. The students played a get-to-know-you game and then divided into two smaller groups to discuss their likes and dislikes.
"I have TiVo!" one girl said. "That's a major perk of living with me."
Housing Officer Chad Mank, who led the hour-long event, said the social was intended to help students jilted by potential roommates or suitemates and those who might not have someone to live with because of "shyness or introversion."
The event is about "getting them out of their shell" to meet others, he said.
Still, some students, like Seyfarth, were there for different reasons.
"All of my friends are guys," who have already finalized their plans, she said. Though she wouldn't mind living in a single room next year, those rooms are in limited supply for rising sophomores. Seyfarth said she didn't want to face the possibility of being unlucky in the housing lottery and ending up on the housing waitlist, where she would likely be grouped with someone she didn't know.
Here, she said, "at least I can meet someone who's not a complete stranger."
Kara White '10 said she was looking for someone who, like her, was quiet.
"My impression is that most people at Brown like to party," she said. Fortunately for her, she left the social with a couple of phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
The social also provided a forum for students in groups to find another student or two in order to aim for suites with certain occupancies. Gerald Liew '09 said he attended the social because he and his friends were looking for someone who was "substance-free and likes to cook." Liew also left the social with some promising leads.
But just as in speed dating, not everyone was matched by the end of the night. Seyfarth left before the event's conclusion, saying she was hungry. Lamia Khan '08, who came looking for a fourth person for her group so it could shoot for a suite in Young Orchard Apartments, also left without any phone numbers.
Though she was unable to find a fourth person for her suite, Khan thought the social was a good idea, especially for rising sophomores, who comprised nearly all the students at the event. Most of the students had positive things to say about the event, though some were still skeptical about its effectiveness.
"How can you talk to someone you want to live with and get to know them in such a short time?" Seyfarth asked.
And there's also the "shame" factor.
"I was saying to my roommate that I seem that I'm coming off as desperate," Seyfarth said.
Mank acknowledged that "there was a little shame," saying that attendance at the event might make students "feel unattractive" as a roommate. That self-consciousness, along with the unfamiliarity of the first-time event, may have been a factor in the relatively low turnout, Mank said, but overall he was pleased with the social.
"It's not perfect, but it's a start," he said. "If it just gets them to start thinking concretely" about the housing process, he added, then it is a success.
Mank said students still seeking roommates or suitemates can submit biographical forms to ResLife, which plans to make them available to other students who may also be in search of suitable living companions.
