College system is a social barrier

How does one explain the Princeton social scene? When trying to describe it to an outsider it seems but a parody of 1920s American society: "We spend our evenings in 19th century gothic mansions with libraries and antique pool rooms." While Prospect Street does fly the flag for much of the Princeton social life, freshman and sophomores pre-bicker/sign-in are lucky to have the added camaraderie of their own residential colleges. These five locations around campus create in themselves a social network through the quotidian rituals of tooth brushing, showering and eating. As anyone who has spent more than a few hours on campus can tell, each one has its own distinct personality. Forbes, with a different area code from the rest of campus, has the most solidarity due to its poor location. Rocky and Mathey, with their grandiloquent buildings and ornate dining halls, tend to associate with each other; and Wilson and Butler are linked by their close proximity. Still, while I readily embrace my own Butler College's enviable individuality — in the construction site by my window, the prison style architecture, the waffle ceilings and its excellent location at the posterior end of campus — I feel a frustrating detachment from the other residential colleges.

This inkling became even more pronounced than usual on a recent evening, when my roommate and I decided to visit the Rocky dining hall. Sporting our wonderfully tacky "waffle ceilings you're just jealous" sweatshirts, we made our way to north end of campus, only to be reminded of that same sense of apartness that has plagued us since our first days here. As much as I hate to betray any semblance of jealousy to readers who live with me in Butler, the bottom line is hard to avoid: we have two construction sites and a brick courtyard, they have a grass lawn and a gothic tower. Of course, during this first meal under the buttresses and oak ceilings of the Rocky dining hall, I was reassured to find that the food was pretty much the same: chicken patties, frozen yogurt machine and salad bar. What was upsetting, however, was that while some faces seemed familiar, I had never seen the majority of the "06" sweatshirt wearers. Upon leaving the dining hall I thought it might be a good chance to stop by the famous Rocky/Mathey library to do some work. Walking up to the front door, I casually swiped my prox against the sensor, and for my first time as a Princeton student I got a red light and a vulgar beep! This had to be some mistake. But no! I swiped again and still the bitter flash of red shot across the little bulb. My Butler prox, adding insult to my dinner injury, was denying me entry to a building that my northern peers could freely access!

Feeling utterly left-out and rejected, I retreated back to the shadows and more comfortable drab brick walls of Butler. As I walked home to the "butt" end of campus I passed the tennis courts and the land soon to become the new Whitman College, Princeton's first four-year residential college. The idea obviously appeals to some, but I think a space where the same people will eat, brush their teeth and shower for four years will simply create too close knit of a group. Even in the Butler/Wilson dining halls, which are separated by a mere five inches of balsa wood, there is a conscious separation, and it plays out in social patterns campus-wide. The whole concept of college dormitories and dining halls is centered on diversity, and mixing with a large variety of new and interesting people. Two year residential colleges already create social cliques, in my opinion, and four year colleges will take it further than should actually be done at a school like Princeton. We are proud to be a relatively small community, and we certainly flaunt our diversity; the idea of being moved around campus with different hall-mates and different neighbors should be appealing.

Of course, as I demand these things I realize that I, too, must share some of the responsibility for not being familiar with so many of my peers. I lucked out last year with a great group of guys in my seven-man suite, and have found it difficult myself to extend past my Butler group of friends. Still, I wish the administration and the infrastructure of Princeton would force inter-college socializing on me a little bit more. The only thing I can suggest for the future is to disband these preposterous limits on places like the Rocky library, and — if the creation of student-separating four-year colleges like Whitman really is Princeton's future — to create new institutions that will simultaneously bring the entire campus together. I will try harder if they will.

Chris Berger is a sophomore from London.