Club-college meal plans hard to get

Correction appended

As sophomores and juniors participated in the first ever four-year residential college draw Wednesday, a new relationship was forged between two institutions that have historically been seen as separate parts of the Princeton experience: the eating clubs and the residential colleges.

This year, the University is piloting a joint dining contract to allow a limited number of eating club members to draw into four-year residential colleges, as long as they also sign up for a University-sponsored meal plan. All students living in a residential college must sign up for University-sponsored dining contracts.

As the second day of draw came to a close, however, it became evident that demand for these joint plans has far outstripped the number available to students. According to the University's housing website, all shared meal plans available for seniors in Cap & Gown and Cottage clubs, and for juniors in Terrace and Colonial have already been filled. Four-year residential college draw continues through next Wednesday.

The University required each club to offer a minimum number of joint meal plans, Executive Vice President Mark Burstein said, but added that that minimum number was "confidential." The number of joint meal plans offered by individual clubs ranges from two for each class of juniors and seniors at Ivy Club to 15 per class at Colonial Club.

"We have agreements with all the clubs," Burstein said. "All clubs set the numbers themselves."

Zach Woolridge '08, a Cap member, drew into Whitman but was unable to get a joint meal plan. "A lot of clubs tried to set a limit on the number of meals they have and sometimes you run out," he said. "It's a new process for everyone."

Colonial president Tommy Curry '08 said his club has also experienced high demand for the plans. "There certainly appears to be more interest than meal plans," he said. Though he acknowledged that some members interested in joint meal plans may be turned away this year, Curry added that the process has been a valuable learning curve for future years. "It's good to get your feet wet," he said.

This week, however, Colonial did try to increase the number of joint meal plans it offers in response to the high demand for them. It approached the University earlier in the week to ask for an increase in the number of meal plans it will offer to juniors next year. But according to an email sent to the club's members Wednesday, the University refused, saying the late date of Colonial's request prevented it from altering the room draw system and meal plans.

"We need to get a feel for how the system is going to work before we increase our commitment to the program," Curry said in the email.

The process by which students enroll in the joint meal contracts is the same as the process for room draw. When students who are in eating clubs choose their rooms in Whitman or Mathey, the housing website informs them if there are still joint plans available for that club. Students' access to the plans is determined by their draw times.

Some of the few students who already have joint meal plans this year are RCAs, who often sign up for a limited number of meals at their eating clubs and dine in the residential colleges the rest of the time. Anita Gupta '08, who is an RCA this year but will not be one next year, said she has "really liked having the option" of a shared meal plan between her eating club — Cap & Gown — and Wilson College.

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Despite her interest in drawing into Whitman, Gupta said she decided to forego the residential college draw for the general upperclass draw when it became clear that there were no more joint meal plans available at her eating club. "I was kind of disappointed that they didn't make enough meal plans available, but nobody really knew what to expect," she said. "I'm sure next year they'll work on having greater numbers."

Correction

The original version of this article stated that all the shared meal plans for Cap & Gown, Colonial, Cottage and Terrace clubs had been filled at the time of reporting. In fact, spaces were still available for juniors in Cap and Cottage, and seniors in Colonial and Terrace. The Daily Princetonian regrets the error.