New task force created on relationship between U., eating clubs

A new task force, chaired by Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun, has been created to continue building relationships between the University and the 11 eating clubs.

The task force, composed of appointed University staff, students, and alumni, is charged with reviewing the outcomes that stem from the recommendations of the 2009–2010 task force — particularly those concerned with diversity and inclusivity. It also aims to identify how the eating clubs might help achieve the University’s long-term goals for the undergraduate experience, such as improving dining and co-curricular activities and strengthening community.

Furthermore, the University is adopting a strategic framework that highlights priorities such as expanding the undergraduate student body and improving residential life. The purpose of this flexible, revisable framework is to guide important choices by the University’s trustees, administration, and faculty by identifying key goals, trends, and constraints.

Private eating clubs have been an integral part of undergraduate life at the University since their establishment in 1879. Approximately 70 percent of all juniors and seniors are members of a club, and the clubs heavily affect the social lives of all students.

During the spring of 2009, University President Shirley Tilghman and Undergraduate Student Government President Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 decided to revisit the relationships between the clubs and the University to see whether they could be improved. They established a task force of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to “examine whether there [were] steps that [could] be taken to strengthen those relationships for the mutual benefit of the clubs and the University, and for the benefit of Princeton students and the undergraduate experience,” according to the May 2010 task force report.

The 2009–2010 task force was composed of 18 members — including eight undergraduates, three faculty members, five staff members, and two alumni who chair the graduate boards of clubs — and met eight times between October and April. The task force addressed the following issues in its meetings: the culture of alcohol, financial aid, the process of bickering, fraternities and sororities, inclusivity and diversity, communications and representations, and academic life and community service.