Charter decreases sophomore dues, Quad seeks to assist students in finding financial aid to cover club costs

In an effort to make the club more accessible,Charter Club announced early Tuesday that the club’s sophomore spring semester dues have dropped from $785 to $300, while the Quadrangle Club seeks to help students in finding financial assistance to cover club costs after it’s sophomore dues have risen to $800 instead of an earlier announced amount of $500 over the weekend.

Charter juniors can choose to become social members, as opposed to paying for full membership, for the spring semester for $785, according to Lorena Grundy ’17, president of Charter.

Grundy said she had spoken with several students and learned that the expensive dues were preventing them from signing in to Charter.

“We really wanted to give sophomores and juniors who are considering joining Charter the opportunity to experience Charter without breaking the bank so that they can decide if Charter’s right for them,” she said. She added that Charter has been an important part of her University experience.

"It’s really important that we try to make that experience as accessible as possible to as much of the Princeton community as we can,” she added.

Rachel Marek ’17, Charter’s vice president, deferred comments to Grundy.

Thomas Beauchemin ’17, treasurer of Charter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Grundy added that Charter’s price decrease was independent of Quadrangle Club's price increase.

“It really wasn’t a response to any action by any other club,” she said.

Both Quad and the Interclub Council listed the club’s sophomore spring semester dues as $500 on their websites throughout the sign-in period, a cheaper option compared to other sign-in club dues such as Colonial Club’s $700 or Cloister Inn’s $730.

However, an infographic made by the ICC and the Class of 2018 Student Government showed sophomore dues for Quad as $800.

“This price change was in no way hidden and was posted correctly on the Undergraduate Quad website and the ICC website,” Quad President Yekaterina Panskyy ’17 wrote in an emailed statement to the Daily Princetonian.

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A contract from Quad states that if a student commits to stay in the Club until their Junior years, they would pay $500. Not committing instead means a payment of $750.

The ICC infographic publicizing Quad's prices was correct when released, but it was released before the Club’s Graduate Board was able to finalize their decision to change prices, according to Panskyy.

Jean-Carlos Arenas ’16, ICC president and former Charter president, said that the Council has been working hard this year to increase the financial transparency and accessibility of all of the eating clubs, so that students are properly informed before making a decision on which club to choose as a dining option.

An anonymous sophomore who recently signed in to Quad said they noticed the price differences in dues upon joining the club, but assumed the discrepancy was a typo. It wasn’t until the student went on Yik Yak, a social media platform where students can post to their local feed anonymously, that the student realized other new members had also noticed a price increase, they added.

The sophomore noted that they are choosing to stay in Quad despite the new information about higher dues.

“It doesn’t change the fact that I want to be [in Quad], it changes whether or not I spend money…I do have to actually think about the jobs I have and like how I want to spend money,” the student said. “For me, at least, it didn’t change that I wanted to be there, and I realize I’m lucky in saying that because for a fair amount of people it changes things.”

Panskyy wrote that no sophomore that signed into Quad was surprised by the prices on the club’s contract and none have left, as all were very well-informed of the change.

Artur Filipowicz ’17, treasurer of Quad, deferred comments to Panskyy.

This year, Quad got 115 new members, which is an increase from last year, according to Panskyy.

Panskyy declined to give the number of students that signed in last year and deferred further comments to the statement.

“Everyone’s working really hard together. I think this is just a matter of timing and miscommunication and, in the future, we’ll just have to discuss what procedures we can put in place to ensure that incidents like this don’t happen,” Arenas added.

He said that students should factor in general attributes like costs, membership privileges, events and other factors when choosing an eating club if they want to join.

Arenas is a former Chief Copy Editor and a staff writer for the Daily Princetonian.

The anonymous student also added that Quad officers were very apologetic for the error and sent an email describing financial aid options available to cover the difference. Quad will also make efforts to cover the costs for those who need financial assistance by appealing to the Graduate Board, according to the student.

“What happens now is that we’re encouraging students to evaluate all of their options, taking into account as much information as possible which…everyone is working on disseminating consistently and making sure that their information is always up-to-date,” Arenas said.

He said students should keep these new costs in mind when deciding on an eating club, and to consider further financial steps and assistance when paying for dues.

Grundy explained that new Charter members will have the same privileges as full members, with the exception of the number of meals they are allotted. While new members may only get two meals per week in Charter, they have full access to Club events and facilities, she added.

Grundy added she believes this will encourage students to join Charter, and she has already received interest from sophomores and juniors.

“Really the whole point was to let more people be able to experience Charter, so I hope that people take advantage of the opportunity,” she noted.

Grundy noted that she is excited that juniors have the option to join Charter’s community as members in the spring without having to pay for full membership yet.

“Offering juniors the opportunity to join for the spring of this year is really important. I know that people tend to focus really strongly on sophomores joining eating clubs, but I think it’s really important that February of sophomore year isn’t the only time that you have this opportunity," she said. She explained that it gets much harder to join junior year because of potential dining commitments that are hard to opt out from.