In my last column, I wrote that DePauw is one of the best castles on earth. Now, I just have one question: where are the white knights?
Colleges across the country, including DePauw, have seen significant changes over the years in the dynamics of dating. In fact, schools have almost seen a reversal in dating culture. Dinner and a movie now (sometimes) come after you have already "gotten together." This is why your grandmother is confused why you do not come home with a date. Sorry, Grandma, this is no longer the 1950s. Welcome to the 2010s.
Ask any girl at DePauw, and she will likely tell you that this is not a dating campus. Few people are in long-term, serious relationships, and if they are, they are likely not dating someone who is a student here. Is it not in our "Tiger blood" to date? Are we more interested in casual flings instead of romance? What happened to the honest-to-goodness dating of our parents' and grandparents' generation?
There are beautiful girls all over this campus, and I feel fairly confident most believe they would rather go on a date every once in a while than meet a boy at his fraternity or at a bar every single weekend (or weekday) night. Dating provides an opportunity for that boy and that girl to get to know each other outside of fraternity parties with all of his brothers in the same room.
Dating is like two friends getting together but better. On a date, you both agree the other one is cute, and there's a spark. You are not committing to marriage or even to taking each other to formal, but you have the opportunity to get to know each other on a slightly more intimate level. Maybe, you can even hold hands along the way. Most importantly, dating is supposed to be fun!
In this "faraway land" of Greencastle, where can you go on this perfect date? Greencastle may lack the drive-in movie theater, but there are plenty of date-worthy places. Almost Home (my personal favorite — though the only boy who ever took me there did not go to DePauw), Treasures on the Square and Marvin's would all be cute places to take your special someone. Keep in mind, dating can be casual. You do not need big gestures or a night in Indianapolis to make it special. Go on a walk together to Dairy Castle, and maybe by the end, you'll be eating (frozen yogurt) out of the palm of each other's hands.
Don't consider this a personal ad. Consider it a call to the white knights of DePauw. You are out there, and ladies are looking for you. Everyone likes to have fun on the weekend and, of course, some people are not looking for relationships. Just remember that dating does not mean you are in a relationship. You may find dating is the best of both worlds.
Women are not damsels in distress in this great castle of DePauw. You will not find me asleep like Sleeping Beauty waiting for a white knight and true love's kiss. However, some of us might like the idea of 1950s dating and a white knight to come by on his horse every once and a while.
— Napier is a senior economics major from Lake Forest, Ill. opinion@thedepauw.com