Kelsey Huff and her boyfriend will be spending Valentine’s Day with their friends.

Fifty of them.

Instead of taking the conventional route of dinner and a movie, Huff, Aledo, Texas, junior and her boyfriend, Kenny Holloway, decided to continue the tradition of throwing a party on Valentine’s Day. This is the third year the bash will take place. Huff said her freshman year they all wore red, and last year, they drank red drinks. She said the get-together was a way for all of her friends to be included in the celebration.

“We can all do something together,” Huff said. “My single friends don’t have to sit around and watch TV.”

Students continue to celebrate Valentine’s Day in typical and nontraditional ways.

Huff and Holloway have been together for a year. She said they decided to ignore the romantic side of the day and focus on it being a fun holiday.

“There certainly is pressure for it to be a special day,” Huff said. “Maybe there is too much pressure because there is always a chance of being disappointed. It shouldn’t be taken so seriously.”

Ryan Campbell, Olathe senior and executive director of Queers and Allies, will be attending the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference. He said his weekend would consist of learning about the progress and issues of the gay community during the last year as well as how to strengthen Queers and Allies at the University of Kansas. Campbell said that although he had always been single on Valentine’s Day, the meaning behind the day was much broader than simple romantic relationships.

“It is a really good reminder to be thankful for the people in your life,” Campbell said.

In past years, Campbell has spent Valentine’s Day enjoying the company of friends with a bottle of red wine. This year will be different. MBLGTACC will be hosting a dance for all of the conference participants on Saturday evening. Campbell said he was looking forward to it.

“There will definitely be more shenanigans than in years past,” Campbell said.

Kendal Lewis, Lawrence senior, said she and her husband would spend Valentine’s Day in the conventional manner, with dinner and a movie. She said they didn’t focus on gifts but instead focused on spending time together.

“I treat it exactly like my anniversary,” Lewis said. “It’s a day to celebrate togetherness.”

Lewis said because her husband’s birthday was five days after Valentine’s Day, last year, it posed a problem with the couple spending time together. She was upset when her in-laws decided to spend Valentine’s Day weekend with them.

“This year I was adamant about no company, no chores, no bills, nothing,” Lewis said. “Today is just about the two of us enjoying each other and having fun.”

The meaning and reasons why people recognize the day vary from person to person.

“I think the romanticism of Hollywood movies over the last 70 years has really driven people to believe that life should be incredibly dramatic and romantic,” Campbell said. “People expect that in their lives.”

Lewis said Feb. 14 was a day she could be selfish about spending time with her husband.

“Being on the female side of the relationship, I feel like I can say you have an obligation — you have to do this and he can’t argue about it. At the same time he does it willingly, so I am not being a complete jerk to him.”

— — Edited by Sam Speer