Right before the start of her first semester at Loyola, communication freshman Ali Becnel’s long-time boyfriend delivered some unexpected news. First, he would now be attending the university as well. Second, he didn’t want to be her boyfriend anymore.

Avoiding people may be simple at other schools. But at a university with a mere 1,547 students, awkward confrontations with ex-boyfriends are inevitable. In Ali’s case, they are frequent.

“I see him everywhere,” says Becnel. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have class right next door to each other.”

But Becnel isn’t exactly capitalizing on her newfound single status by entering Loyola’s dating scene just yet.

“I’m just trying to meet new people in general right now,” she says. “(The dating situation at Loyola) is kind of under wraps at this point anyway because everyone’s just trying to adjust.”

Becnel’s point of view seems optimistic compared to some freshmen who seem to have already come to harsh conclusions about dating at Loyola.

“I hate this school with regard to boys,” said communications freshman Mary Ellen Janusa.

“Everyone’s either gay or one of those anti-social iPod people. That’s just not my dating demographic.”

But even older Loyola students seem to doubt the possibility of many relationship opportunities on campus. Psychology senior Amanda DiFulco may not be available – she’s dating a UNO student – but she still thinks that she wouldn’t find anyone at Loyola even if she wanted to.

“There’s a large gay community here,” she says. “It’s difficult to find people to begin with, and then you have to sift through all the gay people.”

Like Becnel, she also thinks that Loyola’s size causes problems.

“The school is really small, and I think when you’re a freshman, you get your group (of friends) and that’s it. You don’t meet anybody else.”

Amanda also cites an abundance of “jerks” and the fact that most majors are predominately female as other reasons why it’s easy to be single at Loyola.

And some students, like music industry studies junior Jared Marcell, have pretty much stopped looking.

“I’ve almost given up on Loyola as a place to find someone,” he said.

From sexually frustrated females discouraged by the seeming lack of straight men, or men in general, on campus; to straight males who don’t understand why female students doubt their existence; to broken-up couples who are simply trying to avoid each other, it seems like love is a touchy subject for Loyola students.

But with the male-female ratio closer than ever to reaching equilibrium, it would seem that members of either sex would have little problem finding a date. Still, the problem of Loyola’s tiny liberal arts school status remains. Even so, why is dating so seemingly impossible here?

It all may be a matter of perception and attitude.

IN THE MIX

From the way students talk, you’d think that finding a straight male at Loyola is like finding a parking spot on Mardi Gras. But according to admissions, that may not be the case.

According to information provided by Deborah Stieffel, dean of admissions, 57 percent of the undergraduate population is female. This would mean that for every girl, there are approximately .754 guys – about 1 1/2 females to every male.

The number of gay undergraduate males, however, is an unknown statistic.

“That is a status protected by the government,” says Stieffel. “We could be slapped with a discrimination suit by asking that on an application.”

Although no one knows the exact number of homosexual students, people still have their own opinions on the matter.

“There’s probably an equal amount (of gay people and straight people),” says marketing sophomore Scott Bryars. “I don’t see how it would be hard for straight people or gay people to get dates.

“It might be that gay people are just more outgoing.”

ON THE LOOKOUT

Statistics clearly indicate that the straight male Loyola student is alive and well. The fact that many female students seem to have trouble finding them remains a mystery to some.

“They just aren’t looking around,” claims finance junior Noah Peseckis. “There are plenty of straight guys here looking for girlfriends.”

The problem, according to Noah, may be that guys just aren’t trying hard enough.

“A lot of straight guys are too shy to take the initiative,” he said. “It’s a lot easier when you don’t have to go up to someone in a bar and say ‘hi.'”

With three in close proximity to each other, many students also find themselves at bars trying to scope out members of the opposite sex. But Jared Marcell thinks that it’s these conveniently located bars that may actually be hindering potential romances.

“It doesn’t say much for a relationship if your first date was at Quill’s and your second was at Tuck’s,” he says.

“If we could all manage to pull ourselves away from the triumvirate of drunkenness, we could probably find people with common interests other than beer.”

But bigger than the problem of meeting people while intoxicated, according to Marcell, is the problem of not being open-minded when it comes to meeting new people.

“If you keep hanging out at the same places, you’ll keep running into the same people and it’ll keep not working out,” he said.

‘BETTER THAN QUILLS’

Everyone seems to be looking for love, sometimes in all the wrong places. But for music industry studies sophomore Victoria Jackson, not looking was what got her in the relationship she’s in now.

“Don’t look (for a relationship),” she says. “If it happens, it happens.”

Jackson met boyfriend Stephen Brown through the Black Student Union, an organization that Brown was vice president of at the time. The two have been dating for more than a year now.

From her experience, Jackson believes that joining an organization can enable students to meet potential boyfriends and girlfriends.

“It definitely makes it a lot easier,” she says. “One, you have a common interest as someone else; that organization facilitates that.”

“It’s better than going to Quill’s every night,” she added.

Another organization which may help students meet people at Loyola is the University Programming Board. The organization hosted speed dating in the Underground and a lecture by “Dating Doctor” David Coleman last semester, the inspiration for the movie “Hitch.”

But plans for dating-themed activities for this semester are up in the air at this point, said UPB vice president Jake Parvino. Students, however, recently had the opportunity to complete surveys about activities and are always encouraged to suggest activities that they would like to participate in.

“If anyone ever wants anything to happen, the office is always open,” said Parvino.

POSSIBILITIES

With plenty of available females and males – both straight and gay – looking for love and on-campus organizations that present many social activities, it would seem like dating at Loyola wouldn’t be so difficult. Yet, it is, and no one seems to be able figure out exactly why.

It might just be that Loyola’s poor reputation as a place to date is so engrained in students’ heads, making students unwilling to open their minds to the possibility of ever finding romance.

It seems that if students look past stereotypes and fabled statistics, become more involved and spend less time looking for romantic prospects during happy hour, Loyola could one day be fertile ground for healthy relationships.

Lauren LaBorde can be reached at [email protected].