A new website that hopes to replace the “casual encounters” section of Craigslist for college students may soon offer its services to Penn.
EduHookups.com opened in March. It started at the University of Chicago and has since expanded to 10 other schools, including Brown, Columbia and Yale universities.
According to a spokesman from the anonymously run site — who went only by “Daniel” — Penn is among eduHookups’ next targets. The site’s most recent goal is to bring the Chicago project to all Ivy League schools.
Danny said eduHookups is well-suited for Ivy Leagues because students tend to be “more open-mined, more liberal.”
According to the website, a group of Chicago undergraduates used a coding project as an excuse to transform their school from a place “where fun comes to die” to a place “where fun comes to thrive.”
Danny described the website as a combination of the anonymity and structure of Craigslist with the safety of Facebook and the qualities of a dating site.
EduHookups has fostered everything from one night stands to serious relationship queries since it expanded outside of Chicago. Currently, about 2,000 students use eduHookups, Danny said.
For Chicago, eduHookups hoped to dispel the rumors that “the squirrels are cuter than the girls and more aggressive than the guys,” according to the website. But despite all its attempt to change Chicago’s image, freshman Shirley Yan said she does not want her college to be associated with the website for its intended purpose.
“I think it’s funny,” Yan said. She explored the site because it was something amusing her friends had suggested. Yan described it as a “sketchier version” of LikeALittle — which allows students to post anonymous compliments online — because eduHookups offers the opportunity to have “actual human contact.”
None of Yan’s friends actively use the website, browsing the website for fun instead, but Yan said she believes some people really are using the website.
“Some people are like, ‘I’m not looking for anything serious,’” she explained. “But some just want something short term.”
“I’m guessing we attract a good variety,” Danny said. Some users may be unhappy in their current relationships, or others might be looking for a one-night stand, he said.
Although eduHookups has received mixed responses from larger media attention, the response has been “very positive” from college students, according to Danny.
“We are reaching our target audience,” he said.
