One of the most popular Winter Term traditions at Carleton College is Date Knight, which took place last weekend on Saturday, Feb. 24. Unlike college-run traditions, Date Knight is run by Carleton Student Association (CSA), making it an especially popular unofficial tradition.
On Feb. 1, the entire Carleton student body received an email describing the events and activities offered at Date Knight. Described as “a Carleton tradition where students set up blind dates for their friends,” Carleton students were encouraged to begin thinking about who they would like to set up on a blind date.
From 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. there were activities all over campus. Some of these events included board games at Sayles, a photobooth in the Record Libe, a double-showing of “Pride and Prejudice” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” dance lessons taught by the Carleton Ballroom Dance team and an Arb walk hosted by the Carleton Association of Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts (CANOE) with s’mores. There were also many performances by student groups across campus, with all four acapella groups performing in the Chapel, a Queens of Comedy show in Little Nourse and karaoke at the Cave.
“Performing for the student body is always a fun experience, but particularly so in a concert as advertised as the one on Date Knight,” said Ian Rothfeld ’27. “Everyone seemed excited to hear each song from each group. Especially on a fairly unserious night, both the performers and the concertgoers seemed to have good vibes.”
Although Date Knight pairings are typically meant to be blind dates, the event requires permission between both parties to ensure that both individuals consent to being set up for the event. To facilitate this, the form asks for the name of a friend of the person being set up. The friend then fills out their own form to approve the pairing.
This system of setting up dates appeared to be effective, with one anonymous first-year saying, “I thought it was really successful in setting people up and saw a lot of people having fun.”
Overall, it seemed that Date Knight helped to create a fun atmosphere for couples. One anonymous freshman said that they found themselves feeling “romantic for the sake of other people.”
However, while some blind dates were romantic, many Carleton students were set up on platonic dates as well.
“It was a good time. It was a platonic date, so it was nice to meet somebody and spend an evening getting to know someone new,” said an anonymous sophomore. “I feel like at this stage, as a sophomore, I’ve established who my friends are, so it can be harder to meet new people.”
Instead of being set up on a blind date, some students chose to go with a friend to the Date Knight activities.
“I started my Date Knight off by buzzing all my hair off because I was staring in the mirror for too long, waiting for my friend to get ready, and finally just got sick of my hair for the last time. Upon shaving all my hair off, we went to the Cave,” said Mileana Borowski ’25. “The karaoke was entertaining in a different way from shows that I had enjoyed previously at the Cave. The performers caught the audience’s attention less so with their impressive singing abilities, and more so with their gusto and impressive energy.”
“I then went to the ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ showing at the Weitz Cinema,” continued Borowski. “I didn’t like the movie because it was really scary and gory, but I understand the appeal of showing a movie where you can jump into your date’s arms when frightened.”
“I went with my freshman year roommate and also my best friend for life, and we watched a movie beforehand. The movie was bad,” said Baxter Meyer ’25, “so we watched the first 30 minutes of the movie ‘Madagascar,’ because that’s the good part of the movie. After that we watched some really funny comedy in the Little Nourse Theatre.”
While Date Knight was hosted in Winter Term this year instead of in the fall the event was an all-around success, and, romantic or platonic, most attendees appeared to have had a good time on their dates.
