Citing efforts to increase dating on campus, two freshmen girls are delving into uncharted territory. Samantha Smith and Kelly Clark have started Stanford Students for Access to Dating (SSAD) to raise awareness about the lack of dating and increase the number of dates and relationships on campus. “We hope to have 60 first dates by May 2012 and our calculations predict that we will hit about 5.8 relationships that last over 2 months,” said Smith, lead strategist for the group. “Most of us don’t want to be involved in the frat scene. We just want one date, even if it’s to Fraiche on a Tuesday afternoon” said freshman member Jessica. The group has organized a 5K Charity Run/Walk to raise money for future dates and there are weekly protests in White Plaza to raise awareness for single students. “4 out of 5 students at Stanford are single. That’s almos 100% of students,” said founder Samantha. “Compared to other college campuses, we are like a nunnery. We need more support for these singles—we need to eliminate the dating stigma.”
