Tales From the Archives : The Computer Dance, 1965 – St. Thomas Libraries Blog
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Tales From the Archives : The Computer Dance, 1965

These days, everyone is familiar with using sites like Match.com and E-harmony to find that special someone.  But did you know that St. Thomas was on the forefront of using computers to match up singles?

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From left to right:  Diane Karner, Sue Klein, Steve Nachtsheim, Bob Cochrane, Joe Kellenberger

 

During Freshman Week in 1965, St. Thomas sponsored a “Computer Dance.”  Freshman from the College of St. Thomas (an all-male school at the time) were matched with dates from the College of St. Catherine and St. Mary’s College (all-female colleges) based on the students’ answers to a questionnaire.  Responses to the questions were coded onto punch cards and fed through St. Thomas’s IBM computer to make the matches. According to the student newspaper, the Aquin, organizers of the event “consulted three Ph.D.’s and ran trial tests on several students” before perfecting the system.

I wonder if any of these couples are still together today…….

For more interesting stories from St. Thomas’s past, browse issues of the Aquin in the Historic University Publications database.

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