A different kind of grilling: Professors invited to lunch

As part of its increasing effort to improve intellectual life on campus, the undergraduate U-Council is dubbing this week — Nov. 17-21 — "Take Your Professor to Lunch Week."

The project intends to increase faculty-student interaction and to publicize the existing programs within the residential colleges and the 11 eating clubs which allow students to bring professors to meals without being charged.

"Certainly we do not expect every student to invite a professor to a meal this week or even this year," said Allison Arensman '04, undergraduate U-Council chair. "We hope that by encouraging students to bring professors into their eating clubs it will make the concept less foreign and more comfortable."

And though intellectualism is certainly part of the root of the project, the conversation at lunches need not be unnatural, she said.

"The goal of this project is not to turn every dinner table into a precept, but to encourage students and professors to interact in a less formal environment," Arensman said. "Professors are interested in what students do outside the classroom, and students are interested in what Professors do outside the lecture hall."

University Dining Services and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students are supporting the project by providing a pair of meal vouchers for independent students to return to their residential colleges for a meal with a professor.

Professors can already be invited to meals in the eating clubs without any cost. The Princeton Prospect Foundation reimburses the clubs for the cost of these meals. In addition, both of the Coops on campus — Brown and 2 Dickinson St. — also allow professors to accompany members to meals free of charge.

Breaking boundaries

The idea for Take Your Professor to Lunch Week began at a USG Senate Meeting exploring ways to break down social boundaries between undergraduate students and faculty members, Arensman said. She and Weili Shaw '04, the executive committee member of the U-Council and a Daily Princetonian editor, coordinated the project. Amy Saltzman '05, the USG academics chair, the U-Councilors, and webmaster Robert Moore '06 have also been involved, Arensman said.

"We hope that this week will reveal that professors are not only approachable and accessible, but eager to interact with their students outside the classroom," Arensman said. "Hopefully this program will be well-received and potentially expanded in the future."