In support of Bicker

"Bicker is an intense nightmare. Six days of passing judgment, six days of banality, or flashcards and cute comments, of emotional pleas, and bitterness are over . . . We want to forget, to wash it out of the system."

Surprisingly, a disgruntled sophomore did not make this criticism last night or even last year — it appeared in the 'Prince' in February 1967, a time when many on campus were calling for an end to Bicker entirely. Of course, such anti-Bicker sentiment is still prevalent.

But on this 'pickups' Friday, the 'Prince' writes in support of Bicker. We believe the Bicker process fosters a unity and character in each selective club that likely would not exist without such a system. From this solidarity, fantastic friendships develop and a sense of tradition and history is established in each club. Bicker offers current members confidence in the legacy of their club, the confidence that comes from choosing a new group of members who will, in their opinion, best carry the club into the future. Selectivity provides each club the best opportunity to determine its own "face" to the campus and world. For new members, a club bid promotes the feeling of belonging and cultivates the notion that each one is integrally involved in the very tradition older members hope to pass down through the years.

Although we defend Bicker on the whole, we acknowledge the reservations many students have with such a process. In every system that offers to some a particular sense of belonging, others will, by definition, sense rejection — the very real feeling of not belonging. For those feeling rejected today, we hope Bicker will offer something even greater than club membership can: an opportunity to rediscover perspective on a world beyond Princeton.

Indeed, the 1967 column offers some perspective of its own to the hosed student: "Have a beer, fellow, it doesn't matter that much."