Cannon Club to open early

Cannon Club will be opening earlier than previously announced, according to updates made to its Facebook page and an email sent out to members of the Classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 early Monday morning.

Last April, The Daily Princetonian reported that Cannon was planning to reopen in February 2012. However, the club has now indicated that it will hold Bicker on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29 — right after students return from Thanksgiving break.

The club plans to hold its first pre-Bicker party on Saturday, open only to students who have submitted the non-binding membership application by Friday. The first official party will then be held on Saturday, Dec. 3, and students who join will be social members for the rest of the school year, beginning in the month of December.

The club will charge members around $850 for their ‘social membership,’ which the Cannon Bicker Committee claims is consistent with the fees other bicker clubs charge for spring semester membership.

Because Cannon will serve social members two meals a week and allow them use of its facilities beginning in December rather than February, the committee says that students will get a better deal than they would otherwise.

According to data provided by the Princeton Prospect Foundation, the sophomore fees are equal to what Cap & Gown Club and Ivy Club charge their sophomores, less than what Tower Club charges its sophomores but greater than what Cottage Club and Tiger Inn charge their sophomores.

The fees are at least $100 greater than those charged by any of the sign-in clubs.

Before participating in Bicker, undergraduates must fill out an application form by Nov. 14. After these applications are filed, students will participate in interviews with Cannon’s Bicker Committee, at which point they must indicate whether or not they intend to bicker.

Some language on the fact sheet suggests that certain students will be “offered admission” after filling out an application and will then be invited to participate in Bicker. Joe Goss ’14, who has worked with the graduate board to disseminate information about the reopening of the club, later clarified that all students who fill out an application on time will be invited to bicker, and that Bicker will be the only means by which the club selects its members.

The club has stressed that the applications are nonbinding and that a student will not have to join Cannon after filling one out. In the fact sheet attached to the email sent out on Monday, the club explained that the reason for requiring an application before Bicker was to allow students to get a sense of the club and its membership before making a final decision of whether or not to join.

“If you are offered membership in the Club, you will have the opportunity to ascertain which other undergraduates have also been offered membership before you decide whether or not to join the Club,” the fact sheet reads.

Goss did not comment on why Cannon decided to break with tradition and hold Bicker in late November, nor on whether the club would hold another session alongside the five other Bicker clubs in February. He also did not specify when new members would be required to pay their social dues.