Gone are the days of Chapel dates and Bean romancing. ACU Computer Club is offering students a different way of courting this Valentine’s Day: a virtual match made in heaven.
The ACU Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) is bringing ChristianMingle.com to campus with its annual club fundraiser, ACU Cupid. The online compatibility test uses questions modeled after eHarmony dating tips to match students with a potential mate. Allen Taylor, a junior information technology major and president of ACM, said this is the first year the club has really promoted the event.
“The quiz has been done at least every year I have been here,” Taylor said. “I began the process of tweaking the quiz my freshman year when I built the mobile version and changed its formatting. Last year, I changed the quiz algorithm to be based on categories and this year I added myACU sign on capabilities.”
The test features questions on the five love languages, as well as general interest questions to present results of the top five most compatible, five least compatible, and five “best friends.”
“Each question is given points in any of eight categories we have created. Then results are picked by comparing the points in each of the categories and choosing the closest matches,” said Taylor.
The club is hoping to top two-hundred test-takers and have an estimated half to pick up their results. ACM started marketing and launched the quiz earlier this year, Taylor said.
Blake McAnally, junior computer science major from Abilene and ACM secretary, was one of the first to take the tests when improving the matching system.
“I took the quiz my freshmen year before I was involved in the ACM, and got matched with a really cute girl that I took out on a few dates,” he said. “We had a lot of fun together, but ended up being super involved in our class work that semester and the relationship sort of trailed off. We are still good friends and still hang out on occasion.”
An entertaining and creative approach to fundraising, ACU Cupid’s track record proves it can produce Cupid-caliber results.
“Side note, a close friend of mine and his girlfriend took the test just for fun and ended up getting matched with each other, so we know the test is pretty accurate,” McAnally said.
The single student masses can visit acucupid.com to submit their tests until Wednesday, Feb. 13. Valentine’s Day, students can pick up their results in the campus center from 11:30-1:30 p.m. for $1.
