By Marcus Campbell
On Monday, April 27, the Lawrence University chapter of Mortar Board hosted a program by nationally known speaker David Coleman in the Warch Campus Center cinema.
Known as “The Dating Doctor,” Coleman is often compared to Will Smith’s character in the movie “Hitch”. The movie stars Will Smith as Hitch, a dating consultant who makes a living using his natural charm to help coach other men connect with someone and form a meaningful long-term relationship. Many of Coleman’s techniques are quite similar to Hitch’s—he has embraced his similarity to the character and considers himself a real-life embodiment of it.
Coleman has been honored 14 times as The National Speaker of the Year — 11 times by Campus Activities Magazine and three times by the National Association for Campus Activities.
The program Coleman presented on Monday covered many topics relating to dating, and was applicable to the unique situations among undergraduate students of all genders and orientations. He addressed pertinent issues, such as who controls a relationship, how to know if someone is attracted to you, what you deserve in a relationship and how to get over a breakup.
Rather than giving a strict script of what one should say at what times, he gave viewers general guidelines based on what people look for in a partner, how people realize when someone is interested in them and other tendencies of social interaction that are fairly standard for the majority of people.
Coleman made the evening an interactive event, providing many opportunities for crowd involvement and personal questions. Speaking about how he got into the dating consultation business, Coleman described his experiences in college and how, like Hitch, he was charismatic and able to easily communicate with women. He offered to help his friends build their romantic abilities, and his advice was so highly valued, that being a “wingman-for-hire” helped put him through school. What Coleman says keeps him doing what he does is the joy he gets from working with diverse people and helping them find not just a romantic partner, but a lifelong companion.
One of Coleman’s main points that tied everything else together was the importance of self-confidence. He stressed that if a person cannot love themselves, it will be difficult for potential partners to do the same. He advised each person in the crowd to tell themselves every morning, “I would so date me!” and that people should not look for someone to complete them, but to complement them.
His message resounded with many of those in attendance, as expressed by several students, such as senior Cory Davis who described the program as, “Very informative. It really inspired me, and it was definitely worthwhile.”