And if you’re dating, maybe you don’t want to pop the question while worrying about final projects or job applications
If you don’t already know, “ring by spring” is the Christian college phenomenon whereby seniors feel pressured to get engaged to their college sweetheart before graduation, and our Catholic campus is apparently no exception to the rule.
According to a study by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), Notre Dame has an above-average percentage of married graduates (67.5%), topping the national average by approximately 15%. Amongst the top 50 colleges in the United States, Notre Dame has the highest e students like “ putting a ring on it .”
Romantics consider “ring by spring” as one of Notre Dame’s most important cultural traditions. Legend has it, if you kiss your partner underneath the scenic Lyons Arch or walk around the lakes holding hands, you’ll end up pus courtship: a meet-cute with a classmate, a ring by spring, a big Basilica wedding and a couple of (inevitable) legacy babies.
Cynics pus’s marriage obsession as a demographic consequence. After all, Our Lady’s admissions committee hand-picks a huge group of like-minded Catholic students every year. What do you expect to happen when you gather a bunch of young, single, high-achieving people whose shared religion places an emphasis on marriage? Anybody can tell you there’s bound to be a wedding in the future. In fact, I can already hear the church bells.
But regardless of whether you’re a romantic or a cynic, I think everybody on campus feels the same “ring by spring” pressure – especially women.
If you’re deeply in love, more power to you
Maybe, for you, the pressure manifests in the unusual amount of engagement announcements on your Instagram feed. Maybe the pressure manifests in the looming knowledge that you will never be in the same pool of (probably very compatible) potential partners ever again. Read More
