Til death _ or the next frat party _ do us part

The next time a male student at the University begins to complain about the lack of available, dateable females to on campus, he should be reminded that he could have attended Tufts at a time when women were entirely absent from University grounds.

Among many current Tufts students _ both male and female _ the concept of going out on an actual date has become enigmatic, if not entirely archaic. A casual survey of students on campus revealed that most students believe that dating is a thing of the past. Many say that initial encounters between two interested parties are now much more informal and much more physical.

Although sophomore Dara Granoff is involved in a serious relationship, she has noticed a guy will rarely approach a girl he is interested in and ask her out to dinner. This works the other way as well.

"I think that there is little to no traditional dating on campus, and initially guys and girls meet through casual hookups. Most people don't start going on dates until they are officially together," Granoff said.

Such student attitudes towards romantic relationships have not always existed at the University. Dating was more traditional and formal a century ago: with regards to dating, 1882 graduate Frank E. Smith wrote in his diary about taking girls on sleigh rides and for walks. There were few opportunities for "casual hookups" in 1901: according to Russell Smith's Light on the Hill, female students were allowed "to attend evening entertainments away from the Hill only when accompanied by a chaperon."

Such formal interactions between members of the opposite sex were encouraged by the school's structure. At the time Smith wrote his diary, women were not admitted to the University. In 1856, a woman applied to Tufts, but the faculty ignored her application. The first female Tufts students enrolled in the University in 1892.

By the1906-1907 school year, women made up 70 percent of the entering class of the College of Letters, which later became the Jackson College of Liberal Arts. Although the abundance of female students may have increased the romantic prospects of males on campus, it also spurred fears that Tufts was becoming overly feminized.

As a result, a 1910 charter change segregated the University, creating the separate Jackson College for Women. The experiment in segregation did not work, however; although women received the Jackson College designation on their degrees, Smith's Light on the Hill says that after 1913, "the social relations between the men and the women underwent an immediate and marked change for the better."

In 1945, "Stearns Village," housing for married students, was built near Cousens Gym and lasted for ten years, reflecting the large quantity of serious, committed relationships on campus.

By the 1970s, however, the nature of relationships on campus had evolved greatly. Although Carol Granoff, a 1978 University graduate, is acquainted with two couples that married after meeting and dating during their time as Tufts students, she described the existence of these types of couples as "unique."

"We came to Tufts on the cusp of the sexual revolution, and there wasn't the anger and tension that accompanied Vietnam in the '60s," Granoff said. "HIV was hardly ever spoken of, and we were freer in the sense that we had less to worry about. I think we came to college hoping we'd have a boyfriend, and that was it. Women in the '70s hoped they'd come in to the world and do something with their education."

Social activities have not changed significantly in the past 25 years, Granoff said. When she attended the University, groups of friends went out to clubs and concerts in Boston, and of course, enjoyed the occasional frat party. Friends would also congregate for parties in the common rooms of dorms and suites. If one member of the group began dating someone, their significant other was absorbed into the group, and typical dates consisted of attending movies, football games, and fraternity parties.

Then and now, the opportunity for casual encounters is increased for males residing in a fraternity house. Justin Korval, a member and resident of AEPi, maintains that living in a frat house does ease the process "for most people."

"It's easier because you can walk down from your room and there are tons of girls in your house on any weekend night, so the access to girls in a social setting while in a fraternity is much better," Korval said.

Apparently, however, the girls who choose to be in constant attendance at the fraternity houses are not necessarily being swept away by the frat brothers: "The type of girls that are attracted to you because you're in a frat are not the type I would like to date," sophomore DTD brother Michael Visconte said.

Although Korval and Visconte are hoping to someday meet their matches, both are currently enjoying the opportunities that fraternity living and youth afford them. "You're only going to be 20 once in your life, and I think you should party it up and live freely," Korval said.