Cuffing season has arrived, and while students grapple with assignments and exams, the UMKC community questions if romance is a practical fit in their busy schedules.
Many things can get in the way of romance on campus, such as the time needed to study, extracurricular activities and commuting. Making a meaningful connection can be difficult, especially in an era where people lack social interaction.
According to the Common Data Set published by UMKC, during the 2024-25 academic year, 59% of first-year students and 93% of the overall undergraduate student body were commuters.
Some feel that UMKC has a specific disadvantage for dating. “I think that it’s not as easy in comparison to other schools that might share a bigger campus,” said Richard Sun, a freshman accounting major.
“UMKC feels more like an individually focused school; people are really there to learn and focus on their studies rather than attempting to date. The school culture and overall social life isn’t as expressive as a school, like, Mizzou, so it makes the romantic environment neutral or nonexistent,” said Sun.
Although UMKC may be at a disadvantage for being the ideal romantic environment, the issue may simply be college culture in general.
“So, when you look at a college campus, one of the things that it does is it forces interactions broadly speaking, between people and conceptually interactions are necessary, but not sufficient for creating connection. Like, you often sit around people and don’t talk to them,” said Dr. Daniel Maitland, psychology professor who runs the Study of Connection, Intimacy, and Loneliness (PROSOCIAL) lab.
Some disagree with this perspective. “I think that dating is definitely easy on a college campus, you can find like-minded people, people of similar age and demographics. But it’s harder for the amount of commuters at UMKC specifically,” said Olivia Walker, a sophomore majoring in physics.
