The Organization of Women Leaders has taken a stand to prevent gender inequity, proposing a "Bicker Bill of Rights" to help reduce the potential for sexual harassment often associated with the Bicker process.
"The [Bill of Rights] would protect anyone Bickering a club or participating in initiations," OWL president Jessica Brondo '04 said. "We want to make sure the experience for everyone is safe and enjoyable."
The Bicker Bill of Rights seeks to prevent the possibility of abuse the unequal power structure creates, and would consist of an informal agreement among club officers to appoint female liaisons to enforce Bicker guidelines, Brondo said.
Since Bicker is a competitive process, it automatically creates an unequal power structure between members and the sophomores. Sophomores are more likely to keep silent in uncomfortable situations and members are more likely to take advantage, OWL member Nancy Ippolito '03 said.
"The majority of Princeton students head into the clubs' membership processes with a level head and a healthy amount of respect for one another," wrote Dan Hantman '03, Inter-Club Council president, in an email. "More attention has to be paid to guaranteeing a healthy sexual environment in this chaotic part of the year."
OWL, USG and the ICC began discussions last spring, when OWL proposed that all clubs have female liaisons and that members refrain from asking students to participate in "activities that create an unequal balance of power and thereby an unhealthy sexual environment," Ippolito said.
There has been no formal proposal about the Bill of Rights to the ICC or the Graduate Inter-club Council. OWL and the USG women's task force plan to meet with club officers within the next month to discuss the idea of implementing the Bill of Rights during this year's Bicker process, Brondo said.
This is not the first time women have rallied to make the process more friendly. In the 1990s, one junior had a similar idea. She approached each club and asked them to sign a contract similar to the Bicker Bill of Rights, and they did.
"The Bill of Rights is kind of a resurrection of something that was done in the past," said Amada Sandoval, director of the Women's Center, "As leadership in the clubs changed, things kind of faded away," she said.
Since the clubs are private institutions, the University cannot impose any regulations on them; signing the Bill of Rights is a decision each club will make on its own.
"It is not about placing legal sanctions on the clubs," Ippolito said. "We are using this proposal as a means to publicize certain issues and get the club officers and their members talking about them."
Since the talks began last spring, many club members and officers have expressed interest in actively changing the atmosphere of Bicker. OWL and the USG have not had any official meetings with the ICC or the club officers this year, but they have been keeping contact through Hantman.
"Ultimately, this is not a matter of OWL or clubs as institutions, but rather of the regard in which we hold each other as fellow Princeton students."
There has been no formal proposal about the Bill of Rights to the ICC or the Graduate Inter-club Council. OWL and the USG women's task force plan to meet with club officers within the next month to discuss the idea of implementing the Bill of Rights during this year's Bicker process, Brondo said.
"It would be great if the clubs chose to make some of these ideas a part of their constitutions," Sandoval said. "But, from what I know, I can't say that any of the clubs have made a move in that direction."
Brondo hopes Clubs will formally introduce the Bill of Rights within the next year.
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