Tower, Cap increase in selectivity

The five Bicker clubs saw a small increase in the number of students seeking to join last week, with Tower emerging as the most selective.

About 60 percent of the students who bickered the five selective eating clubs last week were accepted this weekend. A total of 657 students bickered, and 404 were offered spots in the clubs. Last year, 396 students of 633 who bickered got spots in the clubs.

The process went "very well" overall, ICC chair Marco Fossati-Bellani '07 said in an e-mail.

Tower Club supplanted Ivy Club, traditionally the most selective club on the Street, with the lowest acceptance rate. Of the 181 students who bickered, 97 were admitted to the club, a 53 percent acceptance rate. Last year, Tower accepted 66 percent of the 148 students who bickered.

Tower president Jonathan Fernandez '08 said the club's increase in bickerees is due to his club's diversity. "We've actually grown more diverse and [are] becoming more and more difficult to stereotype," he said. "Our Bicker process is also the most accessible and provides the least stress for our bickerees."

Cap & Gown Club also saw an increase in potential members. Of the 155 students bickering the club, 55 percent were given a bid, making it the second most selective eating club this year. Cap president Meka Asonye '07 said this is the club's lowest acceptance rate in the last two years.

"We had a really strong class," he said. "The quality of bickerees was very high."

Asonye attributed the high number of students bickering to a deflation of traditional eating club stereotypes. The clubs did "a good job of opening their doors to people," he said.

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Asonye said that the University's new financial aid policy may also have encouraged economically disadvantaged students to consider bickering eating clubs. The University altered its financial aid program last November to fund club membership for juniors and seniors.

Fernandez, however, called the policy merely a "first step" toward helping students afford highly priced eating clubs.

Meanwhile, Ivy Club saw a sharp drop in the number of bickerees. While 47 percent of 139 bickering students were accepted last year, 62 of 106 students were admitted this year.

Cottage Club maintained last year's acceptance rate of 68 percent, with 84 of 123 students getting into the club this year.

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Tiger Inn accepted 77 of 92 bickerees, yielding an acceptance rate of 84 percent, which is an increase of 18 percent from last year.

Sign-in clubs also saw high yields after Bicker. Cloister accepted 55 people from second-round sign-ins, filling the club's capacity for the first time in several years, president Savannah Sachs '08 said.

Charter president Will Scharf '08 said in an e-mail that, following about 30 second round sign-ins, the club is above capacity.

Colonial filled in the first round, but 45 sophomores listed the club as their first choice for the second round sign-ins, Colonial vice president Daniel Pall '08 said in an e-mail. The size of the waitlist is in flux, he added, because people are periodically being admitted. Pall is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. Terrace Club also filled in the first round.

Quadrangle is not yet full but continues to receive requests from people wanting to join, president Scott Syverson '08 said in an e-mail.

This spring's Bicker process also included new efforts by SHARE to raise awareness of sexual misconduct. After reports of alleged sexual assaults spurred discussion last year between University Health Services and Public Safety, Tiger Inn contacted SHARE to help prevent other such incidents. Several other clubs soon followed suit, hoping to eliminate the peer pressure often associated with the bicker process.

"This year was a lot safer than years in the past," Asonye said, referring to Cap & Gown's bicker process. While the club didn't organize pre-Bicker meetings, Cap plans to hold meetings with new members after initiations, Asonye said.

Tower held club-wide SHARE informational sessions prior to Bicker that were divided by gender, Fernandez said. He added that he plans to continue the "fantastic" meetings during his term as president.