Eating clubs (Princeton University)

The majority of upperclassmen at Princeton University take their meals in one of eleven eating clubs, which are private organizations resembling both dining halls and Greek-letter fraternities. Fraternities and secret societies were banned from Princeton from the middle of the nineteenth century until the 1980's - except for the debating societies, the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society, which had been founded at Princeton before the American Revolution.

Eating clubs arose from dining societies, in which Princeton students gathered to take meals at a common table. These, often with whimsical names, rarely lasted longer than a few years, disappearing when their founders graduated.

Towards the end of the 19th century the eating clubs began to recruit new members as old ones left, and to lease or buy permanent facilities. The new clubs (along with other new extracurricular activities) gradually eroded the central role that Whig and Clio played in undergraduate student life. The decline in popularity and energy of the secret societies led to their merger into the American Whig-Cliosophic Society.

Ivy was the first of the permanent eating clubs. It was followed shortly after by University Cottage Club.

As of the beginning of 2005, Princeton undergraduates had their choice of eleven eating clubs. Five clubs, namely University Cottage Club, Cap and Gown Club, The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, and Princeton Tower Club are selective and choose their members through a process called "bicker".

Six clubs, namely Campus Club, Cloister Inn, Princeton Charter Club, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club, are non-selective. Their members are chosen through a sign-in process and lottery.

Each club occupies a large mansion on Prospect Avenue, with the exception of Terrace Club, which is just around the corner on Washington Road. This area is known to students simply as "The Street", and is alive with music, parties and drunken revelry most Thursday and Saturday nights. Legend has it that Robo, a drinking game that takes Quarters to the next level, was invented at Princeton. Annual events include Initiations, where new sophomore recruits are introduced to club life, and Houseparties where club members and guests celebrate the end of the Spring term.

All of the clubs have been coeducational since 1991, which is the consequence of a lawsuit filed by Sally Frank against Ivy, Cottage, and Tiger Inn in 1979.

Some of the eating clubs have themselves fallen on hard times and closed their doors or merged with others. Some of the now-defunct eating clubs were Cannon Club, Elm Club, Key and Seal, and Dial Lodge.

Bicker

The five selective eating clubs pick new members in a process called "bicker." Unique to the eating clubs at Princeton University, bicker resembles fraternity rushing.

In its current incarnation, bicker begins each spring during the week following Intersession, when interested sophomores come to the club they would like to join. What follows can vary widely by club, from staid interviews conducted by club members to raucous games designed to foster competition among potential inductees. Following two or three evenings of this, the current club membership selects new members in closed sessions, the conduct of which varies from club to club. The clubs initiate their new members the following weekend.

Additionally, some bicker clubs conduct a smaller "Fall Bicker" for juniors (third-year students) in the early fall.

External links

• [1] (http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/finding_aids/eat-club.html), Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library page on the clubs. Provides a history and list of materials in the library.
• [2] (http://www.princeton.edu/Siteware/EatingClubs.shtml), the University's list of links to the eating clubs' websites

• A Princeton Companion (http://etc.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/eating_clubs.html) page on the clubs.