Leave it to Stanford students to use algorithms to search for love.
While mathematically determined compatibility does not a lifelong partner make, Stanford matchmaking services have shown promise in nurturing love stories and capitalizing on humanity’s innate desire to not end up alone.
Here’s how matchmakers have attempted to help the Stanford community find love, friendships and business partners.
Marriage Pact
Perhaps the most famous Stanford matchmaking service, Marriage Pact, originated as a final project for a Stanford economics project. The annual service, which uses a survey to match compatible individuals for friendships and romantic relationships, has expanded to 88 campuses and more than 400,000 people.
Marriage Pact has facilitated some fairytale love stories, like Dante Danelian ’24 and Melody Fuentes ’24, who “crossed the world to be with [each other]” after having their connection facilitated (but not created) by being Marriage Pact matched.
But the system is no stranger to making mistakes. Nicha Rattanabu ’24 participated in Marriage Pact her sophomore year and was matched with a former student living in Miami.
Stanford Match
In August 2022, Stanford Match published its first Instagram post, advertising itself as a new matchmaking service created to solve the “Stanford Dating Crisis.” Stanford Match put out one secret admirer and one matching form in October 2022, dropped matches in November and has been missing in action ever since — perhaps emblematic of dating at Stanford.
Founder Pact
Founder Pact presented an opportunity for students to try their hand not at love, but entrepreneurship. Founder Pact, created by the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES), aimed to match entrepreneurs to realize their business ideas together.
The Founder Pact form, however, is now closed.
Wing
A baby bird on the Stanford dating scene is Wing, announced to Stanford students via email on April 18. According to the email, Wing is built on the idea of “set[ting] up your friends.”
Wing founder Calvin Steussy ’24 told The Daily that Wing spawned from his frustration with existing dating apps.
“I was shocked by how isolating, ineffective and downright dreary the online dating world at Stanford was,” Steussy wrote.
To Steussy, solving that problem meant introducing friends into the equation. He believes that making dating apps a more social activity improves fun, effectiveness and user safety.
Wing put out their first round of matches on Thursday, April 25. Steussy has said that he’s already proud of the app’s success.
“I’ve been at Late Night and had my friends excitedly show me who they matched with on Wing,” he said.