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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

New “SHARE Council for the Eating Clubs” formed to work together on club safety

The Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources & Education Office (SHARE) of Princeton University and the Interclub Council (ICC) officially announce the formation of a collaborative pilot called the SHARE Council for Eating Clubs (SCEC), an interclub council, for the 2019-2020 year. The purpose of the SCEC is to foster relationship building between SHARE and the eating clubs and improve consistency of SHARE trainings within the clubs, with the overall goal of keeping the Street safe.  

The launch of the SCEC is an extension of the existing SHARE Peers liaison program, started in Fall 2012 to assign each eating club a SHARE Peer point of contact for information, awareness, resources, and prevention strategies. The new SCEC offers a platform for the coordination of these liaisons in a more permanent, collaborative structure, with the goal of improving interclub dialogue and cooperation for SHARE-related initiatives.  

 With the new structure, each eating club will be represented by either a SHARE Peer club-member (if the club has an existing SHARE Peer in the membership), or by the pairing of a SHARE-office assigned liaison and their undergraduate president. The SCEC will be led by the SCEC Chair, Matthew Merrigan ’20 (The Ivy Club), as a modification of his prior role as Vice President of External Development, SHARE Peers. 2019 marked a great year for eating club representation among SHARE Peers, and the ICC is excited to pilot the SCEC and hopefully continue the trend of involvement across every club.   

“The SHARE peers and SHARE staff are so excited about the launch of this new program. After observing that some clubs didn’t have SHARE Peer representation, while others had large numbers of peers, I proposed the idea of a structural solution. I believed a new initiative to address this gap was needed with the explicit purpose to foster closer and long-lasting relations between SHARE and the Street. The SCEC has started to do just that: it creates a space for open conversation between the SHARE Office and all of the clubs by design. SHARE peers and staff are thankful to the ICC for being so open to this initiative. I personally cannot wait to see the outcomes of growing the synergistic relationship that will hopefully last for many years to come.” – Matthew Merrigan, SCEC Chair

“The SHARE Council for Eating Clubs is an exciting expansion of the existing SHARE/Interclub Council relationship. The organization offers a space for regular conversation about SHARE matters Streetwide, led by those students best suited within the club system. We look forward to furthering a strong partnership with SHARE through the SCEC and hope to see an increase in club member awareness of the program in the coming years.” – Meghan Slattery, Interclub Council Chair 

For more information on the SHARE Council for Eating Clubs, or ideas on initiatives, contact: