RSS
Facebook
Twitter
E-PrinceResponse to the findings of the eating club task force
This letter is written on behalf of the graduate board of Cap & Gown Club in response to the Task Force on Relationships between the University and the Eating Clubs. We ...
(back to the article)
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual commenters and do not necessarily represent the views of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. We do not take responsibility for the opinions, facts, or claims presented by individual commenters, and reserve the right to moderate or delete inappropriate comments.
To the Cap Board--
What's your position on Cap's sign-in initiations? Never happen, right?
Divisive.
My first two years at Princeton, I was friends with a wide swath of students of all backgrounds. We ate at a variety of places, meeting wherever it was convenient and being introduced to friends of friends, of a wide array of backgrounds and interests. My circle grew.
I studied abroad my junior year. When I came back, my wide circle of friends had subdivided into clubs, largely in line with the conventional stereotypes. I joined no club because my friends were spread so thin in each. They lived with friends from clubs, or alone. They dated within their club. I had to ask special permission to eat with them, at which point I would be introduced to their new club-friends as a mere curiosity, as it was clear that I would not be at the following meal to continue the slow friendship-solidification process. My circle shrunk, dramatically.
It so happens that I don't know much about Cap, nor its many members. Why? Simply because I was never allowed to eat there, and oftentimes not allowed to socialize there. Perhaps it was my loss - I'll never know.
Whenever I am asked about Princeton, I always reply that it was a great place to spend two years.
More specifically related to the article though - I do appreciate the steps the university is taking in this direction. The new college is a huge step and I think that the efforts being taken to work out a compromise have been very constructive so far.