It’s freshman orientation week, and the campus is in high gear. I’m a clueless new froshling, wearing a free Class of 2016 t-shirt and a lanyard holding my prox around my neck. Princeton is frenetically trying to impress us, imposing a schedule packed to the brim with dance performances and club info sessions and free food. We wear that naive eagerness characteristic of brand new freshmen on our sleeves. We’re so excited for all the opportunities because every night, a new administrator gives a speech telling us that we’re “the best of the best” and that we’re going to “do great things.”
The club fair only serves to reinforce our burgeoning confidence. We wander in packs around Dillon Gymnasium, watching as every club tries to recruit new members. “Try something new!” club officers shout from behind their tri-folds. “We accept people who’ve never danced before!” all the dance groups say. All these clubs seem so friendly and accepting, so my friends and I all put our names down for widely diverse activities we never attempted before in high school. I put my name down for a capella groups, one of my friends tries her hand at debate and another anticipates joining an improv comedy group.
Then come the tryouts for all of these organizations. They promptly shatter any sense of confidence we had previously built up during orientation week, when my friends and I are rejected from all of the new activities we were so excited to join. We’re only accepted to things we’ve already done before in high school, whether it’s writing for a newspaper or orchestra. By the end of the first month, all of the club membership rosters are already set, and we are all pigeonholed into doing the same exact things we’ve done in the past. It seems impossible for me to try anything new, to even get my foot in the door.
For all the exclusivity of this school, from the Bicker process to the limited number of passes available for the clubs, I still find it hard to believe that this air of exclusion extends even to our extracurricular activities. People say that college is the time to take a stab at new experiences, but at Princeton, I simply can’t, even if I want to. At this school, where so many people are immensely talented, and there aren’t enough spots in clubs to accommodate everyone, the natural result is exclusion. There is no room for mediocrity at Princeton. Every facet of our Princeton experience seems to demand excellence, even non-academic activities that are supposed to be a means to de-stress and have fun.
And yet, there are ways to make organizations more inclusive, as demonstrated by various sports teams and no-tryout clubs. Most club sports teams, for example, accept people of all skill levels and abilities, accepting anyone who has a desire to join. Similarly, ¿Shruggers?, a performing arts coalition featuring an improv comedy club, a dance group and a theater troupe, requires no auditions, providing newcomers with a forum to develop their skills in a low-pressure environment. Other organizations, like The Daily Princetonian, have some roles that require applications, but others that don’t. This type of structure allows newcomers to improve upon their abilities and acquire the qualifications needed for higher-level positions.
Still, many clubs do not have these opportunities for newbies. My friend, who eagerly tried out but was rejected from the Princeton Debate Panel, feels as if there is no way for her ever to join. She can’t find an opportunity to learn parliamentary debate, so she’ll never be able to improve. Without giving newcomers the chance to practice, most of these organizations will have static membership rosters, always consisting of experienced upperclassmen and a handful of freshmen who have had prior experience. Although having quality teams and club membership is obviously an important interest for on-campus organizations, they should also offer newcomers avenues to develop their skills and gain experience, so they can at least have the possibility of joining in the future. Without a non-selective equivalent or component to these clubs, there is simply no way for interested students, who could potentially become valuable members of these organizations in the future, to join.
Exclusivity, as much as it remains an indelible and highly contested part of Princeton’s persona, should not apply to extracurriculars, which are meant to be fun ways to break up the stress and monotony of academics. Students, on a daily basis, already face enough pressure trying to be part of the exclusive top 35 percent to get Princeton’s limited ration of As. Our non-academic pursuits should be an escape from stress, not another source of it.
Barbara Zhan is a freshman from Plainsboro, NJ. She can be reached at barbaraz@princeton.edu.
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