Princeton discourages freshman from joining fraternities and sororities

[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.

[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).

[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.

[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.

[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.