Eating clubs to host dinner for Class of 2008

When Princeton was still all-male and all eating clubs were bicker, students barely set foot into any of the clubs until they became members. Now, all freshmen will have an opportunity to eat at one of the eating clubs through a new Inter-Club Council (ICC) initiative called A Taste of Prospect.

After signing up for the initiative in their residential colleges, freshmen will be randomly assigned to one of 10 eating clubs to eat dinner on Sept. 17.

The only club not participating in A Taste of Prospect is the Ivy Club. Club officers were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

ICC president J.W. Victor '05 described the initiative as beneficial for both the clubs and the University.

"The administration has a goal of breaking down the mystique and mystery surrounding the clubs that makes the Street an all-consuming thing for freshmen," Victor said.

The University is financially compensating the clubs that are involved, said Tracy Solomon '05, Colonial Club president. "President Tilghman is basically paying for each meal," she said.

The goal of the program is for freshmen to see what the Street is like a majority of the time, Solomon said.

Since all clubs have the ability to accommodate 30 to 40 extra students on any one night, no special accommodations will be necessary to host the freshmen.

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Victor expressed hope that freshmen would use their experience from A Taste of Princeton to shape their perception of the eating clubs, rather than having their views dictated by the opinions of others.

"Many of the stereotypes of clubs are not yet learned and many freshmen don't have strong ideas, Victor said. "Now it will be them that make up their own minds."

Let's Get Ready!

Through the ICC, Victor also plans to begin a Princeton chapter of the college preparatory and tutoring program Let's Get Ready! [www.lgrforcollege.org], which will match University student volunteers with underprivileged high school students.

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"This program shows [the high school student participants] the necessary steps to get into and fund college and how to succeed at these steps," Victor said.

Let's Get Ready includes SAT tutoring as well as instruction on how to write college essays, fill out applications and find financial aid. The program's participants average an increase of 132 points on their SATs.

Founded by a Harvard student in 1998, Let's Get Ready! estimates that 1650 high school students have graduated from the program. The program currently has seven college chapters — Barnard, Baruch, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Manhattanville — matching about 150 college student tutors with roughly 300 high school students.

"Let's Get Ready! helps those who have the initiative and the drive but not the money," Victor said.

Classrooms in the clubs

Another initiative that will be organized this fall is Classrooms in the Clubs, through which the eating clubs will house precepts or seminars.

Terrace and Ivy will not participate.

Though Victor said that he felt the program would be best suited to seminars for freshmen, some clubs are "reluctant and prefer to host upperclassmen seminars," he said.

The significance of the initiative is symbolic, Victor said, as the program shows that "[the eating clubs] are willing to work together with administration."

With the burgeoning need for classroom space created by campus construction, the Classrooms in the Clubs initiative is "something the clubs can provide for the University," Victor said. "The University would like to see the clubs remain a vital part of University life. That means we have to make concessions on our part and we have to work together."