Juniors get free one-year memberships to Princeton Club of New York

The Class of 2009 student government officers announced in an e-mail yesterday that beginning in June 2008, rising seniors will receive a year’s worth of free membership to the Princeton Club of New York (PCNY).

While University alumni organizations span the country, PCNY is the largest and is also the only one with its own clubhouse, co-chair of PCNY’s alumni committee and club governor Zach Goldstein ’05 said. Goldstein described the club as “a home away from home, a base” for Princeton students and alumni.

“Connect with fellow Princetonians in the comfortable and elegant surroundings of the Princeton Club,” the club’s website urges.

Goldstein stressed, however, that while “the arrangement is nearing completion, it is not yet set in stone.”

PCNY offers its members access to a gym, newly renovated squash courts, a library and the Tiger Bar & Grill. Through reciprocal relationships, members can access social clubs around the world, from the Moscow City Golf Club to the Shanghai Racquet Club.

This new arrangement “doesn’t cost our class anything,” class president Grant Bermann ’09 said, adding that it is “beneficial to both the club and ’09 students.”

Bermann said that he suspects the arrangement will increase club membership in the long run, something that he sees as mutually beneficial for PCNY and students. “We ... want our class members to stay in touch, and PCNY provides the perfect forum,” he said, adding that a main objective of the senior class government is “to make life post-Princeton as easy as possible for our class.”

Bermann emphasized that the announcement is unrelated to his re-election campaign. Alec Williams ’09 is challenging Bermann for his seat as class president, a position that Bermann has held since freshman year.

“I’m not going to try to second guess [Bermann’s] timing,” Williams said, addingthat he thinks the initiative is “a great idea.” He also noted that “it will probably benefit the kids in New York, but probably not students outside of the city.”

Many junior class members were excited by the prospect of free membership.

“I think it’ll be especially good because a lot of the juniors are interning in New York this summer. It’s the most useful place it could be,” Yaphi Berhanu ’09 said.

“It’s definitely a good idea, especially because of the gym access,” Evie Austell ’09 said. “It’s very easy for college students to scrimp on gym membership.”

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When asked whether he was worried about an inundation of students using the clubhouse during the summer, Goldstein replied that he thinks “Princeton students are generally respectful of old buildings.” He added that he is “excited to have an infusion of undergraduate enthusiasm into the club.”

Goldstein said that though his parents paid for his student PCNY membership as a present the moment he received his acceptance letter, he did not appreciate the benefits of his membership until he spent his freshman summer working at the United Nations in New York.

“Sometimes after work, before heading home on the subway,” Goldstein said, “I would have a soda at the club. I chatted with guys from ’56 and ’42. It might sound corny, but I got a kick out of it.”

Goldstein said he hopes to send an e-mail to juniors next week, inviting them to join the club, with the membership forms attached. Though non-Princetonians can join the club, they need a recommendation from a Princetonian and an additional recommendation.

Summer membership is available to all undergraduates for a fee.