‘Looking For Girlfriend’ ad posted around campus by student

Bulletin boards on campus are typically covered with sub-leasing and concert fliers, but one student used the form of advertising to look for a girlfriend.

“I’m sick of being single and all alone,” said Nick, who asked to be referred to by his first name. “Sure you could randomly approach someone at the bar or on campus, but I thought it might be easier posting an ad on the billboard.”

The flier, with “LOOKING FOR GIRLFRIEND” in large, bold font at the top, lists Nick’s interests and the qualities he would like in a girlfriend, along with an email address where he can be reached.

On the flier, Nick listed hobbies he enjoys including traveling, photography, “improving my culinary talents (a.k.a. cooking)” and reading non-fiction books, among others.

Because Nick is a senior finishing school and moving on in May, he said his days of going out and partying are over and he’s ready to meet someone to have something more serious with.

Other dating avenues such as online dating did not appeal to him because he said the sites seem to be mostly for older people and not college students.

“I’ve dated off and on like a lot of other college students,” he said. “I had girlfriends in high school. I’ve never done anything like this before, though. I am by no means a hermit or some sort of nerd or geek who doesn’t have social skills. I just thought this was an easy way to perhaps find a girlfriend.”

So far he has received a handful of responses and has been on a date with one of the respondents.

Mount Pleasant sophomore Jill Burden said she would possibly respond to an ad like Nick’s.

“I think it’s pretty clever,” she said. “I would just want to meet him because he sounds funny.”

At first, South Haven senior Alyssa Degrandchamp thought it was a joke and said it was funny, but could see how someone single would take interest in the ad.

Mount Pleasant sophomore Katie Dartt said she would never answer an ad like the one Nick posted.

“It just seems weird to me,” she said. “This isn’t match.com, it’s CMU.”

His friends have been supportive so far, but he was disappointed when a couple of the fliers were vandalized and he received a confrontational email about what he stated he was looking for in a woman. Under a section titled “What I’m Looking For” the flier said “Please be height-weight proportional — in other words … I’m not interested in an overweight girl.”

“I clearly stated what I was seeking in my ad. I guess they objected to the fact that I wasn’t attracted to overweight girls,” he said. “I know that may sound crude, but I am who I am. I don’t find overweight women attractive and if I’m going to date someone or get into a relationship, I ought to be allowed to discriminate against girls who I find unattractive.”

In a comment handwritten at the bottom of one ad posted in the Charles V. Park Library someone wrote “Dude, it’s OK … we don’t need pictures to know that you’re shallow.”

Nick said he is not concerned about what people think of the ad or him and he does not find it any different than dating websites or newspaper personal ads.

“Nobody is forcing anyone to look at the ad or to contact me, so I don’t see how it really matters what I wrote about myself,” he said. “For the most part, I don’t care what other people on campus think, I’m more concerned about protecting myself from potential stalkers and deviants.”