my boyfriend of 3.5 years (24M) met my friends (23F, 23N/B, 21F, 23F) for the first time, but I left the table very sad.

Our relationship started in university, but my boyfriend is now a graduate and working, while I finish my studies two years after him. Because of this, he never really had the chance to meet my friends properly and only knows their names. We don’t have a shared space to hang out, so my friend group from my department and my romantic life are mostly separate, with only one or two mutual friends.

I was really excited that my boyfriend was visiting my university (and his old one) to spend the day with me. I told my friends that "finally, we’d reunite," and he saved a seat for all of us at the university canteen, where we could meet him after our classes. However, when we sat down, they didn’t greet him or ask him any questions. I introduced him to them, but after that, the conversation carried on as if he wasn’t there. I felt awkward, so I moved closer to him and hoped someone would ask him something—just a simple question like, “So, how’s work?” or “When did you graduate?” He tried to engage in the conversation, but the girls kept talking about the latest class or the professors. Keep in mind, these are my BEST FRIENDS from my department.

Later, I went to grab tea for us, and one of my friends came with me. I politely asked her if she could talk directly to him so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in an unfamiliar setting. She said ofc, but when we returned, she didn’t. Then my best friend came over and didn’t even say hello to him! This was the first time she had seen him in person, after a brief 5-minute conversation 1.5 years ago. It was really odd. She only talked about not having slept, put her bag down, and said mentioned she was going to get food. When she came back with her food, she only spoke to the other friends, completely ignoring him. I was really sad and uncomfortable, so we left about 20 minutes early before the break ended.

I cried afterwards because this wasn’t at all how I imagined the meeting going. I was imagining us laughing, joking, they would greet him and tell him things about me etc. They weren’t specifically rude, but they weren’t welcoming or warm either. For context, I really love my boyfriend and have never spoken badly about him to my friends. All they know is that he makes me really happy. Two of my friends are lesbians and tend to speak negatively about men, but even so, I expected them to act kindly and normal for just 15 minutes if they truly value me.

How should I deal with this situation? I feel like I might start distancing myself from them slowly and might act passive-aggressive because they made me feel really lonely and misunderstood. I’m the kind of person who always tries to make everyone feel included, especially if they seem left out, and I would never act like they did. These aren’t my only friends from the department, but they were the closest. This is my last semester of undergrad, so I don’t want to leave campus feeling bitter. I don’t want to bring it up with the entire friend group because each of them acted differently, though none of them were particularly warm or friendly.

TL;DR: My boyfriend of 3.5 years (24M) met my friends (23F, 23N/B, 21F, 23F) for the first time, and their attitude made me uncomfortable. They barely acknowledged him, didn’t ask him any questions, and acted cold toward him, despite me introducing him and trying to make him feel included. I felt really hurt and left early. I’m now feeling isolated and unsure how to deal with this, as I don’t want to distance myself from my friends but also don’t want to feel misunderstood. How should I handle this?