Terrace votes to accept graduate students

The vote came after a poll was sent out in late October to gauge members’ opinions on the potential change in policy. Despite what Terrace member Edwin Bennett ’11 said was a “very vocal minority” in opposition, most members of the club did not object to the prospect of allowing graduate students to join. After the poll revealed strong support for the change, the club went ahead with a town hall meeting involving the graduate board and current members to discuss the risks and merits of the move before holding a vote.

There will now be a feature added to the Princeton Prospect Foundation’s website to allow graduate students to sign in to Terrace “just as sophomores and juniors and seniors do during sign-in period,” current Terrace president Andrew Chong ’11 said.

Since Terrace has filled during the first or second round of sign-ins in recent years, some members expressed concern that graduate students could take spaces in the club that would otherwise be available for interested undergraduates. But the modest level of graduate student demand may ease this concern.

“We’re hoping to get 10 students and possibly have 10 on a wait list if we don’t fill up with sophomores,” Chong said.

Terrace has accepted graduate students in the past, but the contingent was always small.

Terrace member Phyllis Heitjan ’11 said there are many factors, such as cost and exclusivity, that temper graduate student interest in joining eating clubs in general. Nonetheless, she said, there are many characteristics of Terrace — and Terrace alone — that may appeal to them. Though Terrace’s fees might still be “prohibitively high,” she noted that they are the lowest on the Street. Terrace charged members $6,800 annually for the 2009-10 academic year, $525 less than the second-cheapest club, Charter.

Beyond meals, Heitjan noted, Terrace regularly offers some social activities that most clubs do not. “We have live music; it’s not just a Princeton party,” she said.

She noted that many graduate students already frequent Terrace when the club is on tap.

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“Terrace is different than any other eating club at Princeton,” Bennett said. “We have a very egalitarian attitude, and we’re very accepting. I can’t see why they’d want to join any other club.”

Lisa Carmona ’11, another Terrace member, echoed Bennett in welcoming graduate students to the club.

“It’s great if they want to join,” she said. “I don’t really care what age they are.”

Though no other club has publicly considered allowing graduate students to join, Chong evoked the club’s motto, suggesting that it could happen someday.

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“Terrace is the future, and we lead the way,” he said. “If they want to follow, that’s fine by us.”

— Staff writer Molly Brean contributed reporting.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that graduate students will be able to sign in to Terrace through the club’s website when, in fact, they will do so through the Princeton Prospect Foundation’s website.