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Fairfield is on the list… again.

While Fairfield was recently added to the ranks of prestigious Universities by the U.S. News and Review’s 2012 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” for the Best Regional Universities in the Northeast, Kerry Cronin has a special place for our school on her own personal list.

Cronin, a philosophy professor at Boston College, spoke in front of a packed audience on Monday night about the current “hook-up culture,” dating, and the categories of hook-ups that she attributes especially to Fairfield students, who she says have been “excelling” in this particular variation of college relationships.

A hook-up is a physical or social interaction with no perceived emotional connection or expectation of a follow-up, according to Cronin. She classifies college students into three categories: the pseudo-married couples, those who opt out and, of course, those who hook-up.

During Cronin’s previous three visits to campus, Fairfield students volunteered different classifications of those who participate in the hook-up culture, including the categories of the revenge, rebound, bored and now-or-never hook-ups.

Cronin first realized that she needed to connect with her students beyond the typical philosophy curriculum at the advice of a Jesuit 15 years ago. He helped her to understand that the students’ real learning occurs in residential halls and cafeterias and involves their friendships and relationships, not just the material fed to them by their professors. In order for the students to take their Jesuit education seriously, she would need to figure out how to incorporate Plato and Aristotle into their lives outside the classroom.

Eight years of research on this topic provided the background information necessary to undertake the blending of philosophy with the students’ social lives, and she would unabashedly pose personal questions to her students to find out the truth about the inner workings of modern college relationships. Shocked by the conclusions, she introduced an unusual assignment to combat the deterioration of legitimate relationships.

Cronin challenged her students to ask someone out on a level one date and the mandatory face-to-face invitation was only the beginning of the culture shock experienced by her philosophy seminar class.

The “target,” as one student described the intended victim of her philosophy project, needs to know the nature of the date. The student also has to invite someone he or she has a genuine interest in, but should not spend more than 90 minutes on this “reconnaissance mission.” Cronin believes an hour and a half provides just enough time to gather information and make a decision if the relationship is worth pursuing.

This manner of courtship can be difficult to initiate in the pervasive hook-up culture of colleges, providing a definite challenge to Cronin’s students at Boston College. Aileen Monahan ’14 says, “Level one dating is outdated, especially on a college campus. I think the kids who completed this assignment lied about the outcome.” But, some students retain hope that this method may gain popularity, with Monahan admitting, “I would love to be asked out on this kind of date.”

There are obvious benefits to Cronin’s insistence on reviving the tried-and-true model of dating. She recently shared a lunch with a former student, who she expects will soon become engaged to the guy she first worked up the courage to ask on a date for Cronin’s class. He later admitted that he would never have had the nerve to ask his future fiancée out, if she had not first initiated the date at Cronin’s encouragement.

While the inclusion of Fairfield students’ opinions on a list of the types of hook-ups may not be found in the University’s press releases, the excellence of a few of our students in defining our current culture has strengthened Cronin’s resolve for students to ask someone out on a real date.

Just don’t end your date with a high-five – the tragic mistake made by one of Cronin’s students – who was thankfully graded for completion, not overall success. Fairfield students better start practicing the social skills that come with the resurrection of actual dating.

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