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The eating clubs offer juniors and seniors the opportunity to become a part of a close-knit community. They reinforce existing friendships while also introducing you to a wonderful, new, and diverse group of Princetonians. The clubs offer a home on campus where students can come together to enjoy a great meal, take a breath to relax, and develop life-long
friendships.

Hannah Paynter ’19, President of the Interclub Council, President of Cloister Inn

You join the club because your friends are there, but then by the time you graduate you’ve also made dozens of new great friends for the rest of your life.

Liam Morton '02, Cap and Gown Club

Each of Princeton’s clubs is different and through the years has achieved a distinct personality and set of traditions. This is as it should be, for it will be a sorry day for the world if ever such distinctions and peculiarities, and the especial loyalties they invoke, are lost.

Struthers Burt, Class of 1904

By joining an eating club, I’ve gained a sense of home and community that keeps me grounded on campus. I’m incredibly grateful for the life-long friendships I’ve developed and the many opportunities it has given me to grow my community and enrich my Princeton experience.

Rachel Macaulay ’19, President of Tower Club

Eating clubs serve as the perfect bridge between your underclassman and upperclassman years. They reinforce the strong friendships you've established and encourage new relationships with a diverse new group of people. By spending time talking, eating, studying, and socializing, we find that we are surrounded by some of the most brilliant yet modest and talented yet compassionate people, all from incredibly diverse backgrounds with a wide range of different life experiences and stories to share.

Katrina Maxcy '14, Former President of Colonial Club

The eating clubs are so much more than where 70 percent of Princeton juniors and seniors take their meals. They are where students are studying, collaborating on assignments, and encouraging each other as they write the last page of that junior paper or senior thesis. They are where students are coming together at tables to discuss an interesting news story, a great movie someone has seen recently, a campus issue, or any of a cornucopia of possible topics. They are where students are socializing and celebrating the end of a stressful day or a stressful week at high-quality social events. They are where students are engaging in meaningful service to the community outside of the Orange Bubble. The eating clubs are unique to Princeton, and they exemplify what is unique about Princeton — a sense of always being able to come home, whether you're just joining as a sophomore or are coming for your 50th Reunion.

Jean-Carlos Arenas '16, Former President of the Interclub Council, Former President of Charter Club

Eating clubs are places in which to find a home on campus. More than just a building to socialize in, they exist to create that feeling of family and acceptance – somewhere where you’re free to just be yourself, and relax into a community that accepts and loves you for you. Being in an eating club allows you to meet so many great people that otherwise you might never have met – people from backgrounds and cultures that differ greatly from your own, but who will nonetheless become some of your closest friends on campus. Being a part of one of these groups enables you to have a community that will always be yours, and that you will continue to be a part of long after you graduate. I find that in my own experience, I am constantly and unerringly amazed by the people I have met through my club, and by the sheer kindness with which everyone treats one another. I wouldn’t trade my eating club experience for anything in the world.

Conor O’Brien ’19, President of Charter Club

Eating Clubs Announce the Formation of an Interclub Community Service Council

Princeton, NJ – February 4, 2015 – Kate Gardner ’16 (Tower Club) and Kevin Larkin ’16 (Colonial Club), the newly appointed Co-Chairs of the Community Service Interclub Council (CSICC), officially announce the formation of the CSICC, a new interclub council. The purpose of the CSICC is to foster and coordinate community service activities for all of Princeton University’s eating clubs.

 

Each of the Princeton eating clubs has one or more community service chairs who organize service projects for the members of their club. There are over 20 community service chairs from all eleven eating clubs who are members of the CSICC.  The CSICC is now one of three interclub councils:

 

  • The Interclub Council (ICC), the Presidents of all of the eating clubs.
  • The Graduate Interclub Council (GICC), the Grad Board Chairs of all of the eating clubs.
  • The Community Service Interclub Council (CSICC), the Community Service Chairs of all of the eating clubs.

 

One of the primary roles of the CSICC will be to manage TruckFest, an interclub community service project that began last year.  In its first year, TruckFest donated over $20,000 to “Send Hunger Packing”, a charity dedicated to fighting food insecurity in Mercer County. Planning for TruckFest 2015 has already begun with a goal of doubling the number of food trucks and doubling the amount donated to charity.

 

The University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement is one of the sponsors of TruckFest. Representatives from the Pace Center and from the Princeton University Office of Community and Regional Affairs are advising the group in fostering community partner collaborations, managing campus services and resources, and serving as a liaison between the CSICC and the town of Princeton.

 

The CSICC and TruckFest evolved from a series of monthly community service dinners that began in the fall of 2012 organized by Lisa Schmucki ’74, Graduate Advisor to the ICC and GICC. The clubs take turns hosting the monthly dinners, and the club managers have provided complimentary meals and private rooms for the meetings. About the formation of the council, Lisa Schmucki commented, “We created a forum for community service chairs to gather on a regular basis to share ideas and expand the community service activities of the clubs. The leadership from last year’s co-founders of TruckFest, Justin Ziegler ’16 (Cap and Gown) and Austin Sanders ’14 (Cannon), was extraordinary. It is the first time the clubs worked together to host an interclub community service event.”

 

“We’re very excited to have a formalized relationship between community service chairs of the clubs as well,” Kate Gardner said. “Kevin and I think it’s a great way to continue to build strong inter-club ties, and encourage partnership and a love of service on campus. We’re already underway planning for TruckFest 2015, and are thrilled with the active role all of the eating clubs are taking!”Community Service Dinner 11-5-13

For more information on the CSICC and TruckFest, contact:

  • Kate Gardner ’16 | kmg3@princeton.edu | 571-215-4199
  • Kevin Larkin ’16 | klarkin@princeton.edu | 973-270-3036