Whether you are happily single, in a relationship, or dating, there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the Baldwin Wallace campus. Even though the holiday falls on a Tuesday, students are finding unique ways to celebrate with loved ones, and some student organizations are utilizing the holiday to raise money. 

Mando Hodges, a sophomore theatre acting and directing major, and his group of single friends are planning on celebrating the holiday with each other.  

Although Hodges is a self-proclaimed “very strong hater when it comes to Valentine’s Day,” he still sees the importance of taking the time to celebrate the people you care about.  

“As long as you don’t spend Valentine’s Day alone, you know, [with] a couple of friends, I feel like it’s still worth it,” Hodges said.  

The group planned an outing to best enjoy the day.  

“Maybe we’ll go to Olive Garden or something. We might go to top golf. We’ll just go wherever the car takes us in the moment,” Hodges said.  

Hodges also explained how being single on Valentine’s Day, to him, is the best way to avoid any possible rejection or spending the day with someone you may eventually break up with anyway.  

Other students on campus have taken the opposite approach.  

Delilah Hartlage, a sophomore dance major with a minor in arts management, embraced the spirit of Valentine’s Day and planned a romantic day with her girlfriend. Hartlage finds Valentine’s Day to be a good opportunity to show her appreciation to her partner as well as have some fun celebrating.  

“I really like Valentine’s Day; I think it’s really cute. I think it’s fun to celebrate even if you are not in a relationship,” Hartlage said.  

Typically for Valentine’s Day, she gets together with friends and watches a ballet, but this year she plans on spending some time with her girlfriend. 

The couple attended “Heartbreakers,” a Valentine’s Day-themed cabaret put on by BWU Prism the weekend before Valentine’s Day. The couple also planned on painting blank vinyl records to decorate their rooms with.  

“She’s like my rock,” Hartlage said, describing her partner Alison Woodhouse, a sophomore theater dance and movement major. “She really helps me when my mental health is bad. She’ll be like ‘Great! You’re going to get up. We’re going to dance around. We’re going to clean up a little bit.’ It’s like she really knows how to cheer me up.” 

Other groups on campus took the opportunity to raise funds with the holiday. Phi Kappa Tau, a fraternity on campus, had carnations available in the Union for students to purchase that would be delivered by them to the dorms or housing near campus.  

PKT sold the carnations for $3 to raise money for the SeriousFun Children’s Network, an organization made up of 30 camps and programs for seriously ill children. The organization offers free events and camp experiences to ill children and their family members. 

“The carnation is actually known as a very romantic flower that grows around Valentine’s Day, and it’s actually the fraternity’s flower,” Mike Delsanter, a sophomore nursing major and PKT’s philanthropy chair, said. “It’s a really good way for community outreach for us as well as raising money for philanthropy, but also is a good way to do a little [good] on campus.”