Tired of the predictable Valentine’s behaviour that dominates popular campus culture in America, many students want a fresh playbook for love and relationships.
This year students at colleges nation-wide are speaking out to encourage their peers to go on dates as an alternative to the campus Valentine’s Day norm, which often involves hooking up or attending a university sponsored Sex Week.
At more than 20 campuses students will be plastering quads and dorms with posters that encourage classmates to take a chance getting to know each other by going on real dates, not hookups. Using the tagline, “people are worth it,” the goal for this campaign is to humanize dating, making “crushes” more approachable.
The Love and Fidelity Network (LFN) has supplied more than 1,000 posters with this pro-dating message to students eager to flip the college script on romance.
“On campuses where Valentine’s Day is often seen as being all about sex, we are hopeful this message will encourage students to build real, authentic relationships,” says Alain Oliver, LFN Executive Director.
This intercollegiate Valentine’s Day poster campaign includes students at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Georgetown, Yale, Notre Dame and many more universities. The poster content challenges college students to take a chance on each other, reminding them that people are worth getting to know.
“In light of ‘#MeToo’ we wanted a campaign that would offer a positive view of dating and promote respect for the individuals involved, something that college hookup culture lacks,” says Oliver.
Students will be encouraged to keep their relationships intentional by asking each other out (and going!) on dates, while at the same time keeping the dates casual—understanding that a coffee date doesn’t mean an engagement ring is on its way.
Going social, students will also be taking the campaign to Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #TakeAChance. More information about the Valentine’s campaign is available at loveandfidelity.org or on Facebook.com/
Established in Princeton, New Jersey in 2007 the Love and Fidelity Network advances the truth about the institution of marriage, the unique role of the intact family, and the value of sexual integrity among college students and in university practices, policies and norms.
