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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

Princeton Interclub Council (ICC) issues statement calling for best practices to ensure a safe and respectful environment at all of the eating clubs

Princeton, NJ – January 22, 2015 – The Princeton Interclub Council (ICC) has released a statement to the Princeton University community that reaffirms its commitment to “advancing a widespread culture of equality and safety within the eating clubs” and pledges “to make the values of student safety and respect our highest priority” in welcoming new members. The statement was drafted and supported by the presidents of all eleven of Princeton’s eating clubs. The following is the official statement of the ICC:

“The Princeton Interclub Council (ICC) is comprised of the undergraduate presidents of each of Princeton’s eleven eating clubs. Our council is designed to foster ongoing collaboration between club leadership that results in a positive contribution to the experience of both club members and the broader Princeton community. Although the content of this continual dialogue may vary, no objective has ever been or will ever be more important to the ICC than maintaining a climate of safety and respect within each of Princeton’s eating clubs. In working toward this value, the current ICC and our predecessors have made deliberate efforts toward the growth of a sustainable culture that recognizes the right of every participant to an experience free from all forms of harm and discrimination.

As the spring semester approaches, we as a council have rededicated ourselves to the evaluation, improvement, and implementation of best practices within our clubs. These shared practices are intended to establish, with the help of our fellow students, a club atmosphere that promotes the values consistent with a progressive and responsible shared community. In working to offer our members and our guests an experience of respect and safety, we hope to preserve the eating club system as a special institution within an already exceptional Princeton experience.

Over the course of the past year, various clubs have worked toward promoting student safety and respect in the following ways and others:

  • The establishment of a dedicated liaison in each club to SHARE, the campus organization that provides resources as well as advising and education services on matters of sexual harassment and assault.
  • The offering of SHARE’s interpersonal violence bystander intervention training to club officers and members
  • The formulation and constant evaluation of official club policies for maintaining a safe and comfortable environment at all events
  • The prioritization of reviewing and formalizing policies on interpersonal violence in meetings with each club’s executive board.

We see these efforts as being of vital importance to the maintenance of a safe club environment, and the ICC is committed to advancing a widespread culture of equality and safety within the eating clubs for our alumni, students, and future members. As we move toward the process of welcoming new members to each of our clubs, the ICC has jointly pledged to hold the values of student safety and respect in the highest priority. With this in mind, we wish each member of the Princeton community a healthy and enjoyable start to the spring semester.”

The statement is signed and supported by:

  • Joe Margolies, President, Interclub Council
  • Connor Kelley, President, Cannon Dial Elm Club
  • Bo Peard, President, Cap & Gown Club
  • JC Arenas, President, Charter Club
  • Ed Walker, President, Cloister Inn
  • Swetha Doppalapudi, President, Colonial Club
  • Will Hicks, President, Cottage Club
  • Nick Martin, President, Ivy Club
  • Mitch Shellman, President, Quadrangle Club
  • Lucia Perasso, President, Terrace Club
  • Oliver Bennett, President, Tiger Inn
  • John Whelchel, President, Tower Club

In response to the release of this statement, Cynthia Cherrey, Princeton University’s Vice President for Campus Life, provided the following comment, “I want to commend the ICC and the undergraduate presidents of the eleven eating clubs for strongly reaffirming their commitments to maintaining a climate of safety and respect within each of the clubs and sustaining a culture that recognizes the right of every participant to an experience free from all forms of harm and discrimination. Recent incidents have reminded all of us of the importance of making sure that policies and practices are in place to encourage appropriate and respectful treatment of all students, to address issues related to sexual harassment and assault, and to encourage timely intervention when students witness behaviors that may place other students at risk. I appreciate the leadership of these students and the support of their graduate boards in making the values of student safety and respect their highest priority.”

Tom Fleming, Jr. ’69, the Chairman of the GICC (Graduate Inter-Club Council), also released his comments on the collaborative efforts of all of the club presidents on this issue, “At the beginning of the year, the GICC established as its primary objective insuring that the eating clubs maintain a safe and respectful climate for all students. We are delighted that through outstanding student leadership there has been significant progress in this critical area. This result is another example of the benefits of the strong partnership that exists among the undergraduate officers and graduate boards of the eating clubs and the university.”

 

For additional information, please contact Joe Margolies, President of the ICC, at jhmargol@princeton.edu.