A personal defense of the bicker process

The eating club system is one unique to Princeton, and one of the most cherished aspects of the University's social life. However, it is not a system enjoyed by everyone. The eating club system has been criticized for more than a hundred years because of its cost and divisive nature, but no aspect has been criticized as much as the bicker system. The promotion of an "exclusive" method in choosing people for a club has been accused of being elitist and unjust.

Last year several articles were written in The Daily Princetonian regarding the unfairness of Bicker, and those articles have contributed to a wider debate on campus. This year, there has been a backlash against the bicker process, and some sign in clubs have filled before the "second round." However, there need not be such a negative reaction to Bicker. The negative feelings against bicker should be directed against the abuse of the system, not the system itself. Bicker, when used correctly, is the best (and most fair) system in determining how to accept members into an eating club, and should not be replaced with anything fundamentally different. In fact, the random nature of sign-in clubs is far less desirable than a bicker system in the long-run, provided there is a particular club that one wishes to join.

The underlying problem with the eating club system is that there is simply too much demand for the supply. Each club has a physical limit to the number of people that it can seat, and when that number is reached the membership can not grow any further. Naturally, the membership wants to ensure that out of the applicant pool, the "best" group of people can be chosen for admittance. The conception of the "best" class is different at every club, but usually encompasses such people as friends of members, people who are thought of as "good" people, and people who will likely immerse themselves in the activities of the club. Of course, the conception of whether a person is "good" for a club is a very subjective decision, and there are many factors that go into that calculation. This is where the Bicker system is necessary.

Since the members have not met many of the applicants before, a system of interviews and "challenges" is set up to determine how well the applicant is suited for the club. It is impossible for members to get to know each applicant well in the short time during Bicker, but this is not the point. Without bicker there would be no way to judge anything about any of the applicants. A random class would have to be chosen, and this would be unfair to the people who really are well-suited to the club, and also unfair to the people who didn't have the support of the original members to begin with. Only through a bicker system can the most informed decision about what class to admit to a club can be reached.

Of course, Bicker is not without its flaws. While most members generally take bicker very seriously and genuinely want to get to know every applicant, Bicker puts some members in a position of power that they are not prepared to handle responsibly. A good bicker is one where the members wholeheartedly try to learn about each perspective applicant, and whether they will be good for the club. A bad Bicker is one where the members are convinced that they are superior to the applicants, and can do whatever they want with them. These bicker sessions usually degrade into a series of stupid human tricks, which are both humiliating and irrelevant to the real essence of what Bicker should be. The clubs that promote stupid human tricks over getting to know their applicants have crippled their own ability to make the best decisions about potential members, and the drop in the numbers of bickerees to these clubs reflects the flaws in their systems. The clubs which have recognized the potential pitfalls of bicker and minimized them have become more and more popular, and will continue to do so in the future.

Bicker is the way to make the best out of a bad situation. While it is impossible to get to know people well in such a short time, the combination of member support and performance during bicker usually paints a pretty good picture of how well-suited a person is to a particular club. Bicker is not without its abuses, but the extent of the abuse does not justify scrapping the whole system. Just to let everyone know, I do not endorse bicker because I easily mastered the system and cruised into the club of my choice. I was denied twice by two different clubs, once last spring and again in fall. Bicker caused a lot of sadness during that period, but it did not convince me that the system was flawed. Looking back on the situation, it is a good thing I did not join the club from which I was first hosed, because I would not have fit into the club and probably would not have been the "best" member. Fortunately, after tremendous effort on the part of both me and my friends, I finally succeeded on my third try. The bicker system eventually worked for me, and the train finally came. With enough hard work and a little luck, it will come for you too.

David Sillers is a Politics major from Potomac, Md.