“I thought about it before, but only Heather had enough guts to do it,” said junior Lissa Erickson, regarding the origins of the Whitman Dating Service.

Co-founders Erickson and juniors Heather Nichols-Haining and Spring Lonneker were reticent at first to start a free matchmaking service for Whitman students, but were pleasantly surprised when dozens of students signed up and were able to go on first dates this past weekend.

The Whitman Dating Service was conceived on impulse after Erickson, Nichols-Haining and Lonneker noticed that Whitman students seldom go on casual dates and thought they might benefit from a matchmaking service. Students can e-mail Nichols-Haining, letting her know information about themselves and what they are looking for and the team matches them up with students of similar interest.

“It was spur of the moment,” said Nichols-Haining about the service’s invention. “Although a few people have e-mailed me saying, ‘I’ve been thinking of doing this forever.'”

Nichols-Haining has received at least 30 e-mails of students who want to go on “blind” dates so far, and she receives more responses everyday. While the first responses came mainly from females, males are now responding on a consistent basis as well.

“More people are coming in once they realize other people have [signed up],” she said.

Nichols-Haining  initially tried to coordinate the dates for people, but now she has so many responses that she only sends the name of the match to the recipients and allows them to coordinate a date from there. The first dates took place this weekend and included trips to local eateries and group dates, among other outings.

Sophomore Cameron Michels used the dating service this past weekend to go on a group date.

“We went to Sweet Basil. I had fun. I didn’t take it too seriously,” she said.

Nichols-Haining and Erickson believe the dating service will open the opportunity for students to expand their social networks.

“I feel like people have set friend groups and it’s weird to invite other people in,” said Erickson.

Michels and some of her friends agreed.

“We think that people at Whitman tend to stay in their groups,” she said.

The dating service provides an opportunity for social mixing which otherwise might not take place.

“There’s not enough of just meeting people [at Whitman],” said Nichols-Haining.

She and Erickson believe the social dynamics at the school contribute to the infrequency of casual dating.

“Even when you do [meet someone], you can’t really ask them out,” Erickson said.

Some students remain skeptical about how the dating service fits in with the small size of the school.

“I think [the dating service is] kind of silly because Whitman’s so small and you already know people anyway,” said sophomore Anne Bauer.

Erickson and Nichols-Haining acknowledge the likely potential for running into people met on dates, but they believe that any post-date interaction will not be a big deal.

“Hooking up is more effort than just having one coffee with someone,” pointed out Erickson.

Nichols-Haining also acknowledged why some people might not want to use the dating service.

“It’s not an organic form of dating,” she said.

While that may be true, it does not stop some people from using the service.

“We just want to make people happy,” said Erickson.