HUA Funds Datamatch Ahead of Valentine’s Day

The Harvard Undergraduate Association allocated $5,000 to Datamatch during a Sunday general meeting, increasing the group’s funding from last year in a move organizers say will expand access to free dates and help offset rising costs.

The allocation will help Datamatch cover higher costs per date and sponsor 200 more dates, raising the projected total to 900, according to leaders of the group.

Neeraja Kumar ’27, Datamatch’s Business Lead and a Crimson News editor, said Datamatch leaders expect the average date at one of its most popular partner locations, local gelato shop Amorino, to cost $12 this year — up from the $9 the organization allocated per date there last year.

“A lot of different businesses in the square have had to increase prices for a variety of reasons, and as a result, the dates that we are able to offer — and they’re able to work with us — are also increasing in price,” she said.

Datamatch — a matchmaking service started at Harvard in 1994 — has also continued to tighten security following a 2024 data breach that exposed users’ Rice Purity Scores. During the meeting, Jackson T. Moody ’26, Datamatch’s Co-Web and Security Lead, said the group has been working to migrate its applications to a more secure infrastructure and tested its security over the summer by simulating potential attacks from hackers.

“We’re always evaluating our security and looking for ways to make it better,” Moody said.

“This year we’re just hoping that there will continue to be no exploits, but it’s built upon this much sturdier foundation,” he added.

Last year, Datamatch removed its search function — which allowed users to query for other users directly to match with them — which leaders had said was the root cause behind the site’s security breach in 2024. Huang wrote in response to a list of questions that the manual search option is set to return this year, adding that the site has been “changed to be much more difficult to scrape.”

Datamatch also introduced a handful of new features this year, including a partnership with AI music generator company Suno that allows users to send each other personalized love songs, and an option to filter matches by religion.

Several students said they have had positive experiences using the service this year.

“Valentine’s Day is such a boring holiday anyways, especially for us who don’t have a significant other,” Eva D. McDarby ’29 said. “It’s exciting — plus we’re supporting the students who are making it and continuing to make it better each year.”

McDarby said she is hoping to find a romantic connection on Datamatch.

“It’s more interesting,” McDarby said. “It’s Valentine’s Day, day of love, not day of friendship.”

Other students said they were less interested in romance and more drawn to the sense of camaraderie Datamatch could help foster.

“I’m not really looking for love,” Lucy S. An-Lee ’29 said. “I feel like my options would be limited on it anyways, because it’s only 10 people, but I think I could be friends with anyone.”

“I feel like Datamatch is a fun way to bond with your friends, while you’re setting up your profile,” she added. “More so than the matches you make.”

Some students said the free meals were the main draw.

“I was like, ‘hell yeah,’” Alyssa R. Phat ’29 said. “I saw Berry Line, I saw Playa Bowls. I was like, this is right up my alley.”

Asked whether she was looking for a romantic or platonic connection, Phat said that she “doesn’t care as long as there is food.”

Students and organizers said Datamatch continues to play a role in bringing together undergraduates who might not otherwise cross paths.

“If it’s randomized, then you kind of take away that natural filter that you have on people, where you gravitate towards specific people,” Phat said. “But now, since it’s hopefully randomized enough, you meet more people that you would never have talked to before.”

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.