Some clubs not participating in ICC Street fair

Despite uncertainty over the participation of Ivy and Cottage clubs, a street fair to improve the eating clubs' image among Borough residents is slated to go forward this Saturday.

Cap and Gown, Charter, Colonial, Terrace, Tower and Quad clubs, as well as Tiger Inn, will offer food and carnival games in a street fair on Prospect Avenue. The event, sponsored by the Inter-Club Council, is the first of its kind.

"The idea is to have some nice events for families in the community," ICC president Corey Sanders '04 said. "We thought it'd be nice if the eating clubs did something in the fall, like the University does in the spring with Communiversity."

Colonial president Mike McFadden '04 sounded a note of enthusiasm about the event.

"We think it is a great opportunity for the community to see that the eating clubs are not merely places where students go to party every weekend," he said in an e-mail.

He added, "I understand that a few clubs have concerns with the event. However, I don't want to speculate about their reasons or whether they will participate."

Some clubs, however, opted not to take part in the event.

Sanders said Cloister Club never planned on participating because "their staff had a prior arrangement they couldn't get out of."

Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince’. Donate now »

In contrast, he said, Ivy and Cottage had sent mixed messages. "The last I had heard, they weren't participating," Sanders said. "From what I hear this evening, they are again. We'll wait and see what they say."

Though he stressed he was unsure of the details, Sanders said some clubs hesitated to participate in the event because of member concerns.

"I think some of it was just there was some debate over members of the clubs being able to eat inside their clubs or eating on the street, which is a well-founded debate," he said.

Referring to the uncertainty about the involvement of Ivy and Cottage clubs, Sanders said, "it will look really bad if they are not participating."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

In a later e-mail message, he said club officers had only two weeks to prepare for the event, suggesting this may have contributed to the uncertainty.

Ivy president Pete Sculco '04 said the club officers were set to meet at 11 p.m. Monday night to decide whether or not to participate in the event.

He said the George Clinton concert in the backyard of Quad, whose timing coincides with that of the fair, caused the club's graduate board to hesitate about signing on to the ICC event.

"You can imagine with the grad board their main concern is taking care of the building itself," Sculco said.

"They don't know the details, they just hear that this superpopular band is going to be playing next door, and they were apprehensive about it."

The USG-sponsored Clinton concert, which Sanders stressed is unrelated to the street fair, will be open only to University students. The fair, in contrast, will be free and open to the public.

Sculco said member concerns about food were not a reason for the club's possible non-participation.

"The membership doesn't know what's going on," he said, referring to the street fair.

Repeated calls and e-mails to Cottage club last night were not returned.

Though the food offered by the clubs will not be free, Sanders said all proceeds will be donated to Cornerhouse, a local drug and alcohol counseling center.

Sculco said Ivy would feature a dunking booth on its front lawn if the club has decided at that point to participate.

"I'll probably be the one who gets dunked," he said. "A sacrificial lamb kind of thing."