A new age for the clubs and the University: Cloister

The agreement reached between the University and the eating clubs that creates new shared-meal options and boosts financial aid is a landmark achievement. All who contributed to the dialogue and debate over the several past years should be proud of their efforts.

To view this agreement as a culmination, however, would be shortsighted; rather, it opens a gateway to future possibilities. Now it is up to each member of the Princeton community to tackle the challenge of realizing the potential.

Freshmen and sophomores: Don't trust F. Scott Fitzgerald '17. Each club is not as homogenous as he would lead you to believe. Clubs reflect their membership. As membership changes from year to year, so too do the activities and conversations within those clubs. But you can't change a club from the outside.

Club members: I can name at least a half-dozen alleged "traditions" at my club today that didn't exist a decade ago. With the clubs now more accessible to diverse populations than ever before, allow your experiences to be shaped by the members taking meals there today, not the ones who dined there yesterday.

Club grad boards and alumni: Increased financial aid may lead to more members, but what else can you do to improve the student experience? How about devising opportunities for students to network with alumni or creating scholarships to bridge the financial gap for those not on full aid?

To University leaders: Please keep your arm extended across Washington Road. The leaders on Prospect Avenue will continue to need your public and private support to reassure and remind them that the clubs are a valued part of the University community and that the betterment of the community remains the ultimate objective for all.

Mike Jackman '92 is the graduate board chair of Cloister Inn.