f.scottie

...and laughthink's follow-up post, responding to comments and questions:

Wow, thanks to everybody who replied and thanks especially for the kind words. I think your responses speak to the fact that, in contrast to many other schools, there are virtually no Princeton students or alumni who post here on CC about their experiences. I’d like to think that this means Princeton students are busy studying and/or enjoying themselves. I hope it’s a healthy (and mature) sign that so few Princetonians spend their time telling others how nice they have it. I’ll post more later and try to answer as many questions as I can.

First, some facts. “Foreigngrad,” you have your facts straight. There are 11 clubs of which 5 are selective, 5 are not, and one seems to go back and forth. Collectively, there is comfortably more club “capacity” than there is student body to fill it. All of the clubs except one accept more students than not. (The one exception is the smallest selective club, which usually takes about 40% of students who try.) If you want to join a non-selective club, you WILL get into one. Students can sign up for the non-selective clubs in groups up to six. A computer picks the new members and, chances are, you’ll get into your first choice club with up to five of your friends. Even two groups of six trying together have pretty good odds of both making it into their top pick.

“Philntex,” you summarize the Princeton social landscape very well. Residential colleges are a terrific idea and, at Princeton, you get two years of that experience. After that, if you like that concept of a smaller social infrastructure within a larger university, the eating clubs are the ultimate “personal comfort zone,” as “Foreigngrad” aptly puts it. If you want something less intimate, you can choose from a variety of options, whether structured (another two years of residential college), unstructured (cook for yourself or eat at the Frist Campus Center) or something in-between (joining a student-run co-op, where you plan your meals and cook together).

“Inhaven,” you ask a great question. In contrast to the stereotype, I think eating clubs are actually MORE inclusive than residential colleges. Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of residential colleges, both at Princeton as well as Harvard and Yale. But at 400-500 students each, compare them in size to your high school class. They’re still big enough that you can’t know everybody well. As a result, there’s still the phenomenon where the African-American students are more likely to sit at one table, the Latino students at another, etc. Similarly, the athletes and artsy types also hang out together. Name any standard high school clique and it probably applies to some extent. When you don’t know everybody, you tend to self-select toward those you know best. That’s simple human nature and true on every campus in America.

But the eating clubs, at 100-150 members each, are small enough that you DO know everybody in your club. You see them every day. That familiarity makes all the difference in the social dynamic. The clubs are a true social mélange. If you visit a club during meal time, I GUARANTEE that you will not see the African-American students at their own table, athletes at another and so forth. (Parenthetically, even the clubs with the most aristocratic reputations have had African-American presidents in recent years.) Now, I’ll concede that, while each of Princeton’s residential colleges has almost exactly a 28% minority presence (the overall percentage on campus), the percentage at the clubs is generally lower than that. Critics like to seize upon this as prima facie evidence that the clubs are divisive. But I assert that, at the eating clubs, there is more GENUINE interaction between various cliques than there is in any residential college, at Princeton or anywhere else. Which is more important, having exactly the same 28% proportion in every single residential college or promoting STRONG bonds between people of different backgrounds?

Here’s one snippet of perspective. When the eating clubs elect new officers every year (president, social chairman, dining chairman, etc.), in contrast to every other student election I’ve ever seen, there are no posters or speeches -- no campaigning at all, for that matter. At my club, we took nominees on a Wednesday, held a vote the following Friday, announced the new officers that night over dinner, gave them a standing ovation and threw a big party that night –- simple as that. The point is that there’s no need for campaigning because everybody ALREADY knows everybody as well as possible.

It comes back to a point in my original post. If, as a minority student or anybody else, you want the eating club experience, you will find a warm, welcoming reception. If clubs aren’t your cup of tea, for whatever reason, Princeton offers more other options for you than any college I know of.

“Inhaven,” I think you hit the nail right on the head. Your comfort level will depend on your open-mindedness. As with any human organization, if you EXPECT not to feel welcome, you probably won’t feel welcome. But if you come with an open mind, it’s quite likely that you’ll be very comfortable, I assure you.