The pact is back baby. The famous Marriage Pact that sent shock waves through the student body in 2021 is back for it’s 2022 debut, and this time around it hopes to accomplish its goals.

The Villanova Marriage Pact is a part of the Marriage Pact phenomenon. A yearly research based questionnaire designed to find participants’ perfect matches, the Marriage Pact started in Stanford and has since become a cultural staple on 65 college campuses. Specifically rendered for college students, the Marriage Pact promises to deliver true love…or true friendship, if the sexuality ratios do not align. 

According to the company website, “Marriage Pact is at the frontier of applying science and technology to serve genuine, meaningful relationships.”

The Marriage Pact made students aware of its return through a mass email with the headline “Guess who’s baaaaack…..” on Feb. 18. Today marks the day matches will be revealed. 

Last year was the first time The Marriage Pact came to Villanova. According to the mass email announcing The Marriage Pact’s return, the survey had about 3,500 participants in the 2021 year, and hopes to get even more for round two. The email also promised that this time around would be better than ever.

“We’ve changed (yes, really): new questions, new drama, and new improvements to the algorithm based on your feedback,” the email said.

Excitement immediately filled students as many rushed to fill out the form, but will the famous survey truly help Villanovans find love? According to last year’s responses, that is a resounding probably not. 

In a Villanovan article written after last year’s Marriage Pact results, writer Lydia McFarlane interviewed students, who voiced that their matches had extremely low compatibility scores with them, or that many students did not get matched properly due to asymmetric responses. In fact, in an email sent out to students, this year’s survey has 589 more heterosexual females compared to males. That begs the question, who will find love, and who will be subjected to “impending waitlisting.”

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, reflected on last year’s survey.

“For all my friends, the marriage pact was in simple terms a fail,” She said. “My friend and I got a ‘friend match’ since there was a lack of men. I follow my match on Instagram but we have never spoken. For our one friend that got a romantic match, the guy was so weird. Sorry not sorry. He slid into her DMs and was asking weird questions like when their honeymoon would be.” 

Despite some of these initial responses, some students are hopeful for this year’s survey.

“In a campus that can sometimes feel so small, the Villanova Marriage Pact gives us an exciting opportunity to meet new people and, who knows, maybe even meet the one,” an anonymous sophomore disclosed. 

Whether or not the Pact worked wonders on students or left their thirst for love parched and unsatisfied, that does not seem to be stopping the masses from trying again. Villanovans, despite some of their previous, utter failures, are still willing to take a chance on true love.

Some proof of such comes from a senior who wished to remain anonymous. When asked if he filled out this year’s Marriage Pact survey, he sighed.

“Unfortunately yes.” 

Though somewhat resigned, the intent is still there, and that intent has one goal in mind: the wondrous intoxication of true love. Will The Marriage Pact stay true to it’s promise and guide Villanovans to this state of being through it’s ever secret, ever allusive and powerful algorithm? 

Stay tuned for the results to come out today. All will be revealed.