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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

The Eating Clubs
of Princeton University

Princeton Interclub Council (ICC) issues statement calling for participation in a conversation on diversity and inclusion in the eating clubs

The Princeton Interclub Council (ICC) is a body that prides itself on the strength found in collaboration and unity, being comprised of the undergraduate presidents of each of Princeton’s 11 eating clubs. The ICC meets weekly to discuss campus issues that impact club life and develop best practices for how to best cultivate a culture of respect, safety, and inclusion across all of Prospect Avenue. We also work with other organizations to advance our work inside the eating clubs as well as to engage the eating clubs in service to Princeton-at-large.

While the ICC’s work in recent years and the initiatives it has undertaken are related in a general sense to its firm belief that the eating club experience should be welcoming to all students who wish to join, we are currently looking to how our body can better address the issue of diversity and inclusion in the clubs in a more targeted and focused way. We are currently in the preliminary process of brainstorming what we can do to facilitate this important conversation, and some ideas we have considered are hosting a conference or organizing a series of informal focus groups over dinner at the eating clubs. To launch this effort, the ICC would like to reach out to all members of the clubs, students of Princeton, and stakeholders in the Princeton social experience, to join us in starting a dialogue on this important topic.

We will be hosting an initial conversation on the subject of diversity and the clubs on Sunday, February 28th from 2 – 5pm at the Cap and Gown Club at 61 Prospect Avenue. This discussion is open to all, but please RSVP to let us know if you would like to attend and/or participate in an ongoing conversation on this topic.

Sign up to attend the Conversation on Inclusion, Diversity, and the Eating Clubs
Sunday, February 28th from 2 – 5pm
The Cap and Gown Club
REGISTER HERE

Given the integral role the eating clubs play in social life at Princeton and Princeton’s identity, the ICC’s ultimate function is to do everything it can to provide the best experience to club members and the broader Princeton community. A large part of that is providing resources and support as we work with people who are interested in helping promote this kind of advancement in the eating club system. To that effect, if you have any ideas, questions, or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ICC President Jean-Carlos Arenas ’16 (jarenas@princeton.edu).

Together, especially as we welcome our new sophomore members, we can all keep making the clubs a place that more and more people are proud to call “home.”    Together, especially as we welcome our new sophomore members, we can all keep making the clubs a place that more and more people are proud to call “home.”

The Interclub Council (ICC)

Jean-Carlos Arenas ’16, President, Interclub Council
Ian McGeary ’16, President, Cannon Dial Elm Club
Tyler Rudolph ’16, President, Cap & Gown Club
Lorena Grundy ’17, President, Charter Club
Samuel Smiddy ’17, President, Cloister Inn
Christopher Yu ’17, President, Colonial Club
Forrest Hull ’16, President, Cottage Club
Eliza Mott ’16, President, Ivy Club
Yekaterina Panskyy ’17, President, Quadrangle Club
Nicholas Horvath ’17, President, Terrace Club
Grace Larsen ’16, President, Tiger Inn
George Papademetriou ’16, President, Tower Club

 

  • 02/17/2016
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