Ithaca Is Gorges. Your Dating Life Doesn't Have to Be Lonely.

Ithaca is gorges, Ithaca is isolated, and Ithaca is full of brilliant South Asian students and researchers who have approximately zero dating options outside of Cornell's campus. The desi organizations at Cornell are strong. SASA, Naacho, the grad student networks. But when it comes to actually meeting someone romantically? You've already been through the entire pool by the end of your first semester.

The format from New York works especially well in isolated college towns: real contestants go on dates in front of a live audience, the room reacts, and afterward everyone mingles. In Ithaca, where the captive audience problem works in our favor, this is the event that fills the gap between swiping alone in your apartment and sitting through another academic social.

The thing about Ithaca is that the captive audience problem works in our favor. There's nowhere else to be. When something good comes to town, people show up. The South Asian community at Cornell is tight, engaged, and starving for social events that feel like actual fun and not a department obligation.

We're eyeing Ithaca for a future show. The logistics of getting there are part of the charm. When we come, it'll be worth the drive from Syracuse or Binghamton too. Get on the waitlist, or apply to be a contestant. Ithaca is about to be gorges in a whole new way.