Marriage Pact Gives Broncos Someone to Have and to Hold

For better or for worse, the results are in…time to book your wedding at the Mission!

A terrible, awful, hilarious mistake was made in May 2022 when I first filled out the SCU Marriage Pact survey. It was 10:24 P.M. when I received my first email from the official account:

“Initials of your match are released–A.N.”

Those two letters sealed my fate.

For those not desperately searching for their soulmate amongst the sea of blonde Broncos, Marriage Pact is a multi-university survey that uses research-backed testing, psychology and market design practices to pair students with their one true love–or a backup plan if life doesn’t work out as expected 30 years down the road.

“Santa Clara is the best place to meet your significant other,” said senior Ben Kennedy, who spearheads the Santa Clara sect of the Marriage Pact.

Kennedy keeps his title confidential, along with nearly all other aspects of the oddly clandestine operation. The algorithm, finances and organizational structure of the Marriage Pact process are top-secret.

“One of the things that makes the Marriage Pact special is an air of mystique,” Kennedy said. “It is not a centralized thing that’s just being pushed on us. It’s something that we take on as students.”

After the confidential survey, Marriage Pact’s algorithm matches students together. The low-stakes survey is viewed as something silly and fun to some and surely should not be taken too literally.

“It's less about the end result than it is about the fun and the excitement and the general good vibe that this creates across campus,” Kennedy said.

“Who wouldn’t want a super advanced algorithm to match you with someone just for fun?”

“It's not supposed to be serious. It's as serious as you want to take it.”

The 54-question survey asks value-based questions about what one would prefer in a partner including love language, political ideology, comfortability with substance use and religion–critical, need-to-know qualities that determine compatibility for a life-long partner.

In this year’s and last year’s surveys there were more responses from heterosexual women than heterosexual or bisexual men, meaning it was impossible to pair everyone with a love interest. As a result, the later a submission is received, the higher the chance you have of being placed on the waitlist.

Apparently, I took the deadline too lightly and ended up on the dreaded waitlist, placed only with a “friend match” rather than my future husband.

Remember that A.N. from the beginning of this story?

“When I first saw [the initials] I was really stupid. I didn't realize that your initials were J.C. I just assumed that it was Jesus Christ or someone,” said my roommate of three years, Annabelle North. “And then I was like no, it couldn't be you. There's no way. And then we found out.”

An hour or so after initials are released, a subsequent email is sent revealing the name of your match.

Our worst fears were confirmed. Out of the over 1,500 responses that SCU Marriage Pact received in 2022, I was matched with none other than my roommate, and best friend, a true “friend match.”

“I just was like, this has to be a joke,” North said.

We were a 99.9% match. The beauty of the Marriage Pact is that even though you are almost guaranteed a match, the algorithm will also report the compatibility of your match. So, after receiving that fateful email, there is still a chance that your match’s compatibility falls short. This year some matches had as low as 8% compatibility, Kennedy said.

Nevertheless, take it from me. The survey’s compatibility works–Annabelle and I were best friends before the Marriage Pact and even after. However, I will be declining her marriage proposal.