Princeton discourages freshman from joining fraternities and sororities

[amanda6035]

As the University prepares to welcome another class of incoming freshmen, these members of the Class of 2013 will receive a letter from Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan and Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson over the summer informing them that the University does not support fraternities and sororities on campus.

President Tilghman said in an interview last Wednesday that the administration continues to discourage incoming students from participating in Greek life on campus because she believes it restricts students’ social lives....

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/04/29/23574/

[littleowl33]

What an insulting article. The university officials completely fail to mention all the community service Greeks do and the academic support they provide for their members. Nothing against dance groups or sports teams, which wonderful in their own right, but Greeks add a lot to the community, too!

Also, does anyone know what "Bicker" is? Or "eating clubs"? That part of the article was kind of confusing.

[Shellfish]

The eating clubs seem similar to Greek local groups anyway, but I guess they're exempt from criticism because they're traditional. Insert rolleyes emoticon here.

(There's a useful article about them in Wikipedia.)

[RaggedyAnn]

The Greek collegians should print out copies of the letter to send to their alumni. I wonder how much money to the school comes from Greek donors?

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

What an insulting article. The university officials completely fail to mention all the community service Greeks do and the academic support they provide for their members. Nothing against dance groups or sports teams, which wonderful in their own right, but Greeks add a lot to the community, too!

Also, does anyone know what "Bicker" is? Or "eating clubs"? That part of the article was kind of confusing.

An Eating Club is a social organization at Princeton (I believe similar to the finals clubs at Harvard).

[aopirose]

They've been sening that letter out for a few years now. It just kind of goes with the territory.

Bicker is the bidding process of Eating Clubs. Eating Clubs are similar to fraternites and sororities in that they may have a physical house, sponsor programs and provide a home away from home. Some clubs are exclusive and have a bicker process while other are "open" and pick members based on a lottery system.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

What an insulting article. The university officials completely fail to mention all the community service Greeks do and the academic support they provide for their members. Nothing against dance groups or sports teams, which wonderful in their own right, but Greeks add a lot to the community, too!

Nothing new here. This has been the case at Princeton for some time. The reality is that at Princeton, Greek life simply isn't as big as at some other schools. Not to say that the experiences of Princeton Greeks aren't enhanced by Greek life, but fraternities and sororities are not at the center of the social orbit at Princeton; eating clubs are. As I understand it, most Greeks at Princeton also belong to an eating club.

Also, does anyone know what "Bicker" is? Or "eating clubs"? That part of the article was kind of confusing.

Originally Posted by KSigkid

An Eating Club is a social organization at Princeton (I believe similar to the finals clubs at Harvard).

Right. Eating clubs are the centers of social life at Princeton. "Bicker" is the process, comparable to rush, by which one joins the selective eating clubs.

The Wiki article on Eating Clubs.

[KSUViolet06]

This is nothing new, the Dean has been sending the same type of letter for quite a few years. Students there still end up going Greek, so it obviously hasn't made an impact.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Nothing new here. This has been the case at Princeton for some time. The reality is that at Princeton, Greek life simply isn't as big as at some other schools. Not to say that the experiences of Princeton Greeks aren't enhanced by Greek life, but fraternities and sororities are not at the center of the social orbit at Princeton; eating clubs are. As I understand it, most Greeks at Princeton also belong to an eating club.

Exactly - at some point you have to pick you battles, and Princeton just isn't a place to battle this out. Some schools are less friendly to Greek Life, and Princeton is one of them. They've been sending out letters (or at least communicating those sentiments) since the late 90s, and they're not going to stop any time soon.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Exactly - at some point you have to pick you battles, and Princeton just isn't a place to battle this out. Some schools are less friendly to Greek Life, and Princeton is one of them. They've been sending out letters (or at least communicating those sentiments) since the late 90s, and they're not going to stop any time soon.

I agree. As it turns out anyway, there are chapters that thrive at Princeton--NPHC chapters come to mind immediately, but there are others as well. They simply aren't recognized by the University.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by kellyg29

Yes, and we wonder how impotent at times the School Admimistration members are our not tuned in about GLOs and what they/we do?

Whether we as GLOs act as stupid people, I also wonder what we do for betterment? From what I have seen a tremendous amount of things.

TEITY?

[dukemama]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

TEITY?

I'm guessing yes - they also posted in the LXA forum. Busted!

[Jimmy Choo]

Originally Posted by kellyg29

Yes, and we wonder how impotent at times the School Admimistration members are our not tuned in about GLOs and what they/we do?

Whether we as GLOs act as stupid people, I also wonder what we do for betterment? From what I have seen a tremendous amount of things.

Originally Posted by violetpretty

TEITY?

I was thinking the exact same thing......

[twinkle555]

My ex went to Princeton and the eating clubs are WORSE than any imaginable form of greek life..to me anyways. I visited Princeton about 5 years ago and what I did see of the clubs was nasty! During the day you have to be a member of the club to get in..but at night you can bring anyone bc it was basically an orgy with heavy drinking on the side. Disgusting. I couldnt believe that one of the most prestigious universities in the world let this go on. My ex joined the Tiger Inn eating club his sophomore year, soon after he dumped me.

I do remmember him saying that the fraternities and sororities basically were underground and didnt really exist there....so strange.

[amanda6035]

nice. Lets join a fraternity that's "not" a fraternity. I just read the article on wikipedia.

looks like a duck, quacks like a duck....