Campus Club will close its doors for good

A month after trustees announced their decision not to open Campus Club this fall, members of the eating club have been notified that due to continuing economic difficulties that have plagued the club for much of the last decade, the club will not reopen at all.

Official confirmation from the club's leadership of the trustees' decision to shut down Campus was not available, but Campus Beverage Director Matthew Samberg '06 said, "As the situation stands right now, Campus Club will not be reopening."

Alumni and other members declined to comment.

Campus has struggled to attract members in recent years, while earning insufficient income to support the costs of keeping the club open. Though members and alumni knew the club was in a tough financial situation, they expected Campus to weather the storm and stay open.

The board of trustees' initial decision to close Campus in August "came as a shock to the current membership," member Stuart Lange '07 said in an email. "We had no warning that anything like this was on the horizon for the coming school year."

Members fought the board's decision with a last-ditch campaign beginning late August to reopen as a dry club, hoping to attract students who wish to reduce the emphasis on alcohol that characterizes Princeton eating clubs.

The club also offered significantly cheaper membership plans, charging members a fee as low as $4,000 year.

But the changes failed to attract sufficient new members. Samberg said Campus alumni — who would like to retain use of the club for major events, like Reunions — will vote in coming weeks on what will happen to the building, which stands on the southeast corner of Prospect Avenue and Washington Road.

Donating the building "is the unofficial plan" as former club members understand it, Samberg added, but "it has neither been confirmed by our board of alumni nor, I believe, officially been negotiated with the University."

University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee '69 said the University may convert the building into a common social space, creating another option for students not interested in participating in eating club activities.

The last club to close was DEC — the union of Dial, Elm and Cannon clubs –– which shut its doors in 1998.