In response to the stressful social situation presented in Dartmouth College’s dining room, a new social program was launched this week in which students who use newly purchased red cups instead of the normal, clear ones are indicating they’re willing to talk to strangers.
Apparently, a popular student cafeteria at the Ivy League university prompted large amounts of anxiety, so organizers say they hope the effort will prompt people to make nice, engage in polite conversation, maybe even spark up a new friendship.
So, Dartmouth students can manage to get into one the one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, but they can’t manage to eat dinner alone or introduce themselves to fellow peers?
As most readers have probably anticipated by now, the verdict’s still very much out on the program.
“Nobody said ‘hi’ to me all evening,” student Jon Vandermause, who used a red cup Wednesday evening, told The Dartmouth student newspaper. “I don’t know if I’m ugly or if the cups aren’t working.”
Anonymous online comments about the program were just as bad.
“I’d feel really awkward picking up a red cup that announces I have no one to talk to. It’s a great idea but I haven’t seen anyone using a red cup yet and I don’t plan to,” stated one.
Another commenter attempted a bit of clever wit: “The scarlet cup was his passport into regions where others dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been his teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made him strong, but taught him much amiss.”
“The project, launched Tuesday, is a reaction to the dining hall’s propensity to give students unnecessary stress. Students often feel uncomfortable or awkward when they are eating alone,” reports The Dartmouth, which added the college’s dining services division spent $100 on the red cups and posters to advertise the effort.
“Foco is a place that everyone goes to, but it’s also a place that a lot of people stress over,” senior Christopher McMillan, who came up with the program, told The Dartmouth. “A lot of people just go upstairs and pretend to do work on their computer if they’re alone, so this is just a solution I thought up.”
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