By: Tracey Ugwueru
Students at De Montfort University in Leicester were able to put lockdown aside and still enjoy making new friends across the country for Valentine’s Day thanks to social app Clubhouse.
The Take Me Out event was set up by Halimat Ogundapo, the President of Kent University’s African-Caribbean Society, along with her peers.
The event usually takes place every year but because of COVID-19, they created a space on the App to virtually continue the event.
The idea was originally from Kent University but founder Halimat said: “The involvement of other unis was to increase engagement.
“We didn’t want the pandemic to stop us from letting it go ahead.”
A leaflet they produced and shared online carried the invite: “Join us for a virtual night of laughter and potential Love.”
The event took place on February 12 at 7.30pm and included other universities such as DMU, Leicester, Hull, Wolverhampton and Manchester, with more than 500 attendees. Students could join and leave at any time during the event.
The flyer for the event could be seen on the DMU WhatsApp App and on other social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter.
As a result, a large number of students from a range of different backgrounds and from all years interacted with each other, sharing numerous conversations about themselves and their interests.
Feedback from the students was positive, with people saying they enjoyed talking to other students and that the atmosphere was one to keep connected.
