From formal interviews to swallowing goldfish, stories about the Bicker process abound among sophomores who this week join one of Princeton's 11 eating clubs.
While still a distinctive feature of Princeton social life, the role of eating clubs has changed significantly since the creation of the residential college system, increased dining and social alternatives and a more diverse student body.
Yet the eating clubs serve as reminders of Princeton's past. Most upperclassmen still eat in the buildings that line Prospect Avenue, and many continue to be admitted through the Bicker process.
In 1855, the University banned Greek-letter fraternities, and a devastating fire exacerbated the inadequacy of the University's dining facilities. Students thus began taking their meals in town boardinghouses and some students formed "select associations" as a dining alternative for their small band of friends. By 1864, the Nassau Herald listed 12 such groups, calling them "eating clubs."
The eating club system that we know today developed when the organizations became more permanent and self-sustaining.
In 1879, Ivy Club erected a simple clubhouse on Prospect Avenue and became the first eating club to invite underclassmen to take the graduating members' places.
Soon the University Cottage Club was built, followed by Tiger Inn and Cap and Gown and Colonial Club. By the early 1900s, the majority of upperclassmen claimed membership to one of 14 eating clubs.
Even in their early years, the role of the eating clubs in campus life was a controversial subject.
In his 1903 Trustees Papers, Moses Taylor Pyne lauded the clubs' positive influence, which dignified and refined students after their experiences in the rowdy sophomore boarding houses.
"Luncheons, dinners, teas, etc., to ladies are of very frequent occurrence and as at any time ladies may be brought into the houses, there is a tendency towards refinement of manners," Pyne wrote. "Gambling and the use of spirits or wine or malt liquors in the club houses are positively prohibited."
Apprehensive of the clubs' increasing role in student social life, President Woodrow Wilson 1879 proposed in 1907 to either completely abolish the eating clubs or incorporate them into the residential quad system.
However, the eating clubs persisted — eventually accepted as a social outlet. The administration and some students continued to oppose the Bicker process, though.
In a 1956 report, the trustees called the Bicker process a "prolonged interruption of the academic schedule" and "a serious handicap to the faculty and to the undergraduates."
The old Bicker process
The Bicker process has changed over the years, becoming shorter and more informal.
Bicker for every club featured a series of formal interviews with club members, and sophomores could bicker more than one club.
The Bicker process began with the "calling period," in which sophomores cleaned their rooms, put on ties and coats and waited for club members to come to conduct interviews.
"The formalized conversations are often self-conscious and usually center around the sophomore's academic major and outside interests," Woodruff W. Halsey '69 wrote in a 1968 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Representatives from the clubs visit each sophomore at least twice and then begin making cuts."
The calling period was followed by "all-night sessions to the clubs, always exhausting and sometimes brutal, needed to cut down on the roster of sophomores," Halsey wrote.
Halsey added that "many upperclassmen also find the process distasteful, since it forces them to give the sophomores they bicker grades on Princeton's 1 to 7 scale."
"In the 1950s, Bicker went on for a much longer time and club members came to you in your room; no one was allowed on the Street until sign-in night. This gave you more chance to learn about the club differences," former Cap and Gown President Michael P. Erdman '57 said.
Discrimination
With the group of students rejected from eating clubs largely comprised of racial and religious minorities, the Bicker process revealed widespread prejudices.
A report by the Graduate Inter-Club Council in 1952 conceded that the Bicker process gave a "very heavy favoritism on those who attended Eastern preparatory schools."
In his 1949 article "The Motivations of Bicker Men," David Lewit '47 wrote, "Identification of a candidate as a Jew, or from an old Baltimore family, as a Chinese, or a Negro or as a member of any special group by accident of birth receives consideration by bicker-men."
"The clubs, many of which would accept no Jews, and some of which would accept no Catholics, took about 90 to 92 percent of the sophomore class during Bicker," Marcus Aaron II '50 said in an email. "This left a minority of 8 to10 percent of students wanting to join a club who couldn't, and either they ate in Commons with the freshman and sophomores or they were left to their own devices. They felt, for the most part, like outcasts."
Students with lower financial statuses were also considered less desirable. The title "Rate-Men" referred to bickerees who were "receiving $500 or more in total aid from the Bureau of Student Aid and Employment," according to the 1958 pamphlet "Common Sense About Clubs."
Since the eating clubs offered Rate-Men a deduction in their club fees, the clubs created a ceiling — for financial and often social reasons — on the number of Rate-Men they accepted.
The times, they are a-changin'
With the political and social turmoil of the 1960s, the eating clubs, with their mostly white, wealthy membership, lost favor among students who sought to resist the establishment. A growing number of students joined the University-run eating club Stevenson Hall, Woodrow Wilson College — the predecessor to the residential colleges — or became independent.
Sharp drops in membership led to financial troubles for many eating clubs, causing several to close. By the late 1960s, club membership dropped from 90 percent to about 50 percent of upperclassmen.
"I enjoyed my two years in Court Club, but I shed no tears when it, along with others, folded. The old system of Bicker, while not as nasty as traditional fraternity or sorority selection processes, was nonetheless cruel to the small minority who were shut out," Marcus Aaron II '50 said in an email.
In an effort to attract new members, Campus, Cloister, Colonial, Dial and Terrace — and later Charter and Quadrangle Clubs became non-selective sign-in clubs.
Women
In 1968 the women in the University's Critical Languages program, which brought dozens of women to Princeton for a year of study before coeducation, were offered membership at Stevenson Hall and Campus Club.
Despite the clubs' integration efforts, the women's reactions were mostly negative. One Critical Languages student interviewed in the 'Prince' in 1968 expressed fear of becoming "just one of the guys instead of a prospective date."
By the time Princeton's first coeducational class was eligible to bicker in 1971, women avoided Bicker for other reasons.
"I think there were at lot of us who were not interested in Bicker and the eating clubs, and of course, there were some eating clubs that didn't accept women," Alison Amonette '73 said. "We were also in the midst of a time — in the late '60s and early '70s — that was anti-establishment, and what could be more establishment than an eating club at Princeton? Few of my male friends went through Bicker either."
In a piece in the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Robert Earle '72 investigated why Tiger Inn and Cottage and Ivy clubs resisted admitting women.
In the article, Dave Roberts '72, then president of Cottage Club, said that members wanted a relaxed environment. He was quoted as saying that some members "feel more comfortable if they obey the laws of chivalry and stand when a lady enters the room."
Earle concluded that "obviously women as a permanent fixture would not be conducive to relaxation for this sort of person."
In February 1979 Sally Frank '80 filed a sex discrimination complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights after being denied membership to Ivy, Tiger Inn and Cottage Club.
Cottage settled with Frank in 1986 and became coed that same year. Ivy accepted women in 1990 after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in Frank's favor.
Tiger Inn, however, refused to admit women and twice asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, but was denied both times. The Federal Circuit Court upheld the New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling. As a result, Tiger Inn first admitted women in 1991.
Bicker today
Of the 11 eating clubs in operation today, six are Bicker and five are sign-in. Yet even among the Bicker clubs, the actual process varies.
Tower Club has a "positive" Bicker policy, in which "Tower members are not allowed to make any negative comments about bickerees during club-wide discussions," according to the Tower website.
Ivy Club still bickers sophomores through a series of interviews.
Campus — after years of being a sign-in club — decided to revive Bicker this year.
Tiger Inn and Cottage and Cap and Gown clubs also continue the Bicker tradition.
Despite its opponents, Bicker remains ingrained in University social life.
"I recognize that many people frown on the system, saying it is unfair because some students do not get their choice. Well, isn't that what happens in life? I think there is a lot to learn from the process of discovery that Bicker offers," Erdman said. "You get to meet a lot of people who you may not have had the opportunity to do so in a sign-in system. You are put to a test that will bring out the good qualities in yourself."
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