BYU-Idaho announces Date Night: gives students two weeks to find eternal companion

REXBURG, Idaho — Brigham Young University-Idaho announced that its annual Date Night will take place Sept. 25, giving students just two weeks after the start of the semester to find a date — and potentially their eternal companion.

The event, themed “Dating Through the Decades,” will take students on a journey through the history of dating, reminding them of a simpler time when people met in person, asked each other out and apparently got married before turning 23.

For many BYU-Idaho students, the announcement came as a surprise.

“I had just moved into my apartment,” said one student who asked to remain anonymous. “I didn’t realize I was also supposed to be looking for my wife.”

According to unofficial statistics compiled by The Potato, BYU-Idaho students have determined that one date is often one date too many. Some students have opted to skip the traditional courtship process entirely, choosing instead to meet their future spouse somewhere between a ward activity and the altar.

The university’s choice of theme appears to encourage students to look to previous generations for dating inspiration. Organizers say “Dating Through the Decades” will celebrate the different ways people have dated throughout history.

For some students, however, the theme serves as a reminder that their parents and grandparents had already married, purchased a home and started raising children by the time they reached the same age.

“My grandma had three kids by my age,” one student said.

The announcement has also prompted students across campus to begin reviewing their dating strategies, including asking friends for recommendations, attending more ward activities and reconsidering the person they have been sitting next to in class for the past week.

Others have reportedly decided that the most historically accurate way to participate in Date Night is to simply marry the first person they met this semester.

As Sept. 25 approaches, students have two weeks to find a date, choose an outfit and determine whether “just friends” is still a viable option.

The Potato will continue to monitor this developing situation.