With 4,789 submissions, more than half of Notre Dame’s undergraduate student body participated in the annual Notre Dame Marriage Pact this year, according to the Marriage Pact’s website. The Marriage Pact is a compatibility matching system created by Stanford University students in 2017, which has spread to college campuses across the country. Results were released for Notre Dame Nov. 4.
By asking students a series of questions about their personality and dating preferences, the survey uses an algorithm to estimate their compatibility with others within the database. The system pairs students together based on the assumption that they would be compatible partners in marriage.
While Michael Spence, a sophomore who filled out the survey, said he believes the Marriage Pact is an interesting concept, he said he is unsure about the true capability of the test to find compatible marriage matches.
“I like that [the Marriage Pact] enables you to talk to somebody who you’d never think you would,” Spence explained, saying the survey brings about cool interactions with peers, “regardless of their intentions.”
The survey consists of questions regarding political affiliations, smoking and drinking habits, future family plans, partner preferences, general lifestyle choices and more. Responses are measured on a seven-point sliding scale, with opposing extremes at either end.
Freshman Jane Dufner thought the survey was fun to fill out, and said she will likely do it again in future years.
“It’s a fun tradition and experience,” Dufner said.
Because of uneven gender distribution in the responses, some participants received a “friendship pact” as opposed to a romantic “marriage pact,” as was the case for senior Yosibel Cabrera.
“I was matched [with a 100% compatibility score] with my friend — actually my roommate!” Cabrera said.
Cabrera said she was surprised to be matched with a friend of hers, let alone her roommate. Although both she and her roommate share a major in architecture, the survey did not include architecture as a major option, meaning their shared field of study was not a factor in their pairing.
“The whole point of the Marriage Pact is being matched with a compatible romantic interest but I guess it also shows how effective it is by matching up friendships,” Cabrera said.
The marriage pact system has proven to be effective for romantic partnerships too. Sophomores Katie Harfmann and Luke Zircher, who did not know each other before the results of last year’s survey came out, have the Marriage Pact to thank for their introduction.
“I tried to stalk his social media, disappointingly finding out that all he had was LinkedIn,” Harfmann said.
Eventually, they made contact via email, and Harfmann attested that their first interactions were constructed with affectionate language put together by ChatGPT and that their first date consisted of high-stakes questions on issues of politics and religion.
“Our first date was a romantic trip to South Dining Hall,” Harfmann said. “We made pasta for lunch followed by a three-hour dialogue.”
After waiting until the second semester of their freshman year to start dating, the pair have now been together for over ten months.
