Talk to me about Princeton eating clubs

[Anonymous]

I’m sure the vibes have changed a lot since I was a student there, and it wasn’t traumatic for me because most of my friends had no interest in Bicker (so we went straight to a sign-in club), but it’s obvious from reading the thread that the Bicker system continues to damage the school’s reputation and leave some students with a bad taste in their mouths many years later. Generally I respect Chris Eisgruber, and I worked with his wife, but by now he should have found a way to have reformed the clubs and done away with Bicker.

[Anonymous]

Any social club that didn’t chose me as a member decades ago should be abolished.

[Anonymous]

I actually don’t think the bicker clubs should be abolished in that they are sort of the cultural heart and soul of the school. But they are a reason someone may not want to go there. A silver lining of being unable to get into Princeton is not having to deal with this crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My ex was in the one with a lot of jocks, I forget the name. She's a lesbian, so definitely not hooking up with dudes to get into a club, but it just sounded really gross. Hazing, forced drinking, sexual harassment, along with the run of the mill douchey guys.

[Anonymous]

These clubs are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any social club that didn’t chose me as a member decades ago should be abolished.

You’ll have plenty of time later in life to exclude people socially for various arbitrary reasons. Whether a top university should allow exclusionary clubs to remain at the center of social life for many of its undergraduate students is a different question. However, many already see Princeton as losing ground to other more dynamic schools, so if they choose to do nothing and continue to be overtaken by other schools it’s their choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My ex was in the one with a lot of jocks, I forget the name. She's a lesbian, so definitely not hooking up with dudes to get into a club, but it just sounded really gross. Hazing, forced drinking, sexual harassment, along with the run of the mill douchey guys.

Cap and Gown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually don’t think the bicker clubs should be abolished in that they are sort of the cultural heart and soul of the school. But they are a reason someone may not want to go there. A silver lining of being unable to get into Princeton is not having to deal with this crap.

This is the position that my child is currently in.

Can a student truly feel included and welcome at Princeton? Or will that student be ostracized if they refuse to conform? Someone informed me that some eating clubs reject students base on socio-economic status, race, culture, religion, etc. Is this type of discrimination accepted at Princeton?

I want to know can a student have a healthy and great social life at Princeton without joining an eating club? Or do eating clubs dominate the social scene at Princeton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My ex was in the one with a lot of jocks, I forget the name. She's a lesbian, so definitely not hooking up with dudes to get into a club, but it just sounded really gross. Hazing, forced drinking, sexual harassment, along with the run of the mill douchey guys.

Cap and Gown

Yes, that sounds right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually don’t think the bicker clubs should be abolished in that they are sort of the cultural heart and soul of the school. But they are a reason someone may not want to go there. A silver lining of being unable to get into Princeton is not having to deal with this crap.

This is the position that my child is currently in.

Can a student truly feel included and welcome at Princeton? Or will that student be ostracized if they refuse to conform? Someone informed me that some eating clubs reject students base on socio-economic status, race, culture, religion, etc. Is this type of discrimination accepted at Princeton?

I want to know can a student have a healthy and great social life at Princeton without joining an eating club? Or do eating clubs dominate the social scene at Princeton?

So half or more than half the kids are in clubs where there is no bicker system. They are randomly assigned. The kids in those clubs often really enjoy the experience. They are not the socially competitive kids. The socially competitive kids gravitate to the bicker system. I would say your kid would be fine if he or she is not the type to care about being part of the cool kid scene. This would be the same at a university that had a strong frat scene.

I wouldn’t not go to Princeton because of this.

As far as the bicker clubs being racist etc, they probably still skew more white than the overall student population but even 25-30 years ago they were somewhat diverse. Obviously 70-100 years ago they were unfriendly to Jews and so forth. Check out Gate Crashers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My DD is a current sophomore and um that has not been her experience...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually don’t think the bicker clubs should be abolished in that they are sort of the cultural heart and soul of the school. But they are a reason someone may not want to go there. A silver lining of being unable to get into Princeton is not having to deal with this crap.

This is the position that my child is currently in.

Can a student truly feel included and welcome at Princeton? Or will that student be ostracized if they refuse to conform? Someone informed me that some eating clubs reject students base on socio-economic status, race, culture, religion, etc. Is this type of discrimination accepted at Princeton?

I want to know can a student have a healthy and great social life at Princeton without joining an eating club? Or do eating clubs dominate the social scene at Princeton?

They can join an “open” eating club that just accepts who sign up members without requiring them to “bicker” (which is basically like an audition or rush where the current members vet prospective members).

In addition, all students are automatically assigned to a residential college for their first two years and eat at the dining halls attached to those colleges. Some kids who don’t want to join an eating club as juniors and seniors just stay affiliated with their residential college and continue to take their meals there.

And other students become “independents” and live in university forms that have their own kitchens and cook for themselves, like plenty of kids at other universities.

So you can absolutely have a healthy and great social life without joining a “selective” eating club. You won’t be ostracized in any way, but you may be reminded periodically of the anachronistic social stratification that the administration continues to tolerate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is turning down Princeton because of the eating clubs. There may be legitimate complaints about them, but that isn’t one.

DH did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My DD is a current sophomore and um that has not been her experience...

Like she would tell her mom about all the ****s she *****ed.

Just think about it. You’ve got a bunch of guys who will decide which girls get into their club. Hmm, how will they pick winners and losers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should also be aware that if you send your DD to Princeton and she wants to be part of the bicker scene, she will spending much of her freshman and first semester sophomore year getting drunk and hooking up with the boys in the club she’s targeting. It’s kind of gross in retrospect

My DD is a current sophomore and um that has not been her experience...

Like she would tell her mom about all the ****s she *****ed.

Just think about it. You’ve got a bunch of guys who will decide which girls get into their club. Hmm, how will they pick winners and losers?

Go away troll