This Saturday night, seniors and their plus-ones will style their hair, select their finest attire, and crowd into Paresky to attend the “Senior Fall Formal,” the first of three annual College-sponsored dances for the senior class. Despite the event’s official title, most refer to it colloquially as “First Chance” — as in, the first chance to meet your future spouse during senior year — a nod to the College’s vested interest (and historical success) in forming married Eph couples.
The other two dances are referred to as “100 Days” and “Last Chance,” the latter now renamed the “Night Under The Stars Formal.” However, many still cling to the old titles, perhaps with the hope of meeting their match. The Record set out to investigate the history of these dances at the College.
“From what I know, there is no history to why it was called ‘First Chance,’ but it has taken on a bit of its own lore,” Associate Director of Student Involvement and Events Sam Boyden wrote in an email to the Record. “The name was changed to ‘Fall Formal’ a few years ago to help change that narrative of matchmaking to a more celebratory nature. I felt it was strange that the perception (whether true or not) was to find a life partner at these events, and [I] wanted to create a much lower pressure and more fun experience for all.”
Despite the fabled original intent of the senior dances, many successful couples at the College don’t have their “meet cute” there anyway: Rather, they connect through the circumstances of normal college life.
This was the case for Darik Vélez ’01 and his wife Elizabeth Vélez ’02. “[During orientation] I was sitting around playing games and getting to know everyone in my [Williams Outdoor Orientation for Living as First-years] group, and this girl comes up to us and asks if she’s in our group, and I remember looking up at her and thinking, ‘I sure hope so,’” Darik said.
Although the “First Chance” tradition didn’t yet exist in their day, another College-sponsored dance was an important milestone in the Vélez’s relationship. “About a month into the year, I wanted to be in a closer relationship with Darik, and there was a dance, but he wasn’t competent enough to ask me out,” Elizabeth said, laughing. “And so I distinctly remember hinting to him using Instant Messenger on my computer that another guy wanted to ask me out. Basically, I was asking him to do it instead.”
While senior dances are not the only chance for matchmaking, it is no coincidence that the dances were once framed as love-seeking opportunities. A 2018 report in The Williams Magazine wrote that nearly 22 percent of alums who have graduated since 1972 since married fellow Ephs, a relatively high proportion compared to peer institutions like Bates and Middlebury. Eph couples are also frequently active members of the College’s Alumni Network, a vast group of alums of which 88 percent have donated back to the College, one of the highest participation rates in the country.
In addition to financial contributions, many Eph couples noted the joy in giving back through fostering community. This is the case for Mary Lusardi ’85 and her husband Phil Lusardi ’85, who returned to campus this weekend to tailgate for the Homecoming football game. Mary met her husband at the College in the 80s, but the two “didn’t really date until the very, very end of senior year,” she said. “We were more like an after-graduation kind of couple.”
The pair returns to the College for most Homecoming games — a tradition that originated both to rekindle festive memories and, for a time, to keep tabs on their daughter. “When our daughter was a freshman, we started doing this tailgate because we wanted to helicopter in and spy on her,” Mary said. “Other kids from our class were doing the same thing … [and] every one of those families has had at least one kid end up meeting [and dating] someone who went to Williams.” Perhaps, then, current Eph couples create new matches at a greater rate than formal dances do.
The roots of inter-Eph romance may partially lie in shared qualities between students who gravitate toward the College, according to John Booth ’87, who also met his spouse during his time as a student. “The great thing about Williams, at least when we were there, was that we were around a lot of really bright, interesting people coming from all walks of life,” he said. Booth also valued the shared grit of rigorous learners at the College. “I was raised to work hard,” he said. “I can be friendly with people who don’t work hard, but I can’t be best friends with people who are lazy. My wife was really hardworking and determined to learn and to find her way in life. So we had that in common.”
According to Beau Everett ’87, a friend of Booth’s and parent to a current student at the College, the robust Williams alum network may play a role in the high prevalence of coupled Ephs. “I do think Williams has a notoriously strong alumni network and alumni connection,” Everett said. “That might be a function of its size, and then when you marry somebody with the same connection, it’s just kind of all on steroids.”
So as students attend “First Chance” this weekend, they may or may not find love — but regardless, they do have a high chance of someday uniting with a fellow Eph.
Embracing imperfections is key to connecting with others in all kinds of relationships, according to Mary. “I think you guys put too much pressure on yourselves to be rich and famous and publicly seen as professional, as having the perfect life,” she said of students at the College. “I think sometimes you sacrifice too much on the personal side to have the public perception of perfection.”
