In defense of the Street

As a prefrosh, I remember feeling skeptical of the eating club system, believing it was a weird and elitist artifact of the University’s historical difficulty with inclusion. This view was not without historical merit; at various times in the last half-century, many of the eating clubs have been bastions against integration, coeducation and religious diversity.

Yet anyone who decides not to attend Princeton because of the exclusivity of the eating club system will be making one the poorest decisions of their life.

Because Princeton is not near many cities or other universities, almost everyone ends up at the Street. Upperclassmen and underclassmen go to the same parties; go to any club and you will meet acquaintances from classes and activities in a more social context. Because attendance and beer are always free, no one is kept away from the Street because of socioeconomic status. Friends at schools such as Johns Hopkins have indicated that the significance of a club or bar scene increases not only legal, but also economic, pressure on many undergraduates.

The 10 eating clubs offer undergraduates far more choices in their socializing than do other comparable social organizations. At Princeton, because only approximately 8 percent of undergraduates join a Greek organization, there is no pressure to do so. A male freshman friend at Harvard told me he felt pressured to join a fraternity because, otherwise, he simply would not have anywhere to go on weekends. Schools such as Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth whose party scenes revolve around Greek organizations force undergraduates to choose between attending events at and affiliating with these organizations, or not going out at all.

Even among the eating clubs, you can choose between different types of parties and people that you feel comfortable with. Think that Tiger Inn is too fratty? Ivy too elitist? Terrace too druggy? Members of Colonial too prone to sleep in libraries? Then don’t frequent or join those clubs. Arguments for or against any particular club just show the strength and diversity of the eating club system as a whole.

The established nature of the Street makes it one of the safest party scenes at any college. First, club presidents and graduate boards are legally liable for any underage drinking or other dangerous activities in their clubs. As such, every club absolutely forbids any type of hard alcohol; all clubs also have bouncers to keep out alcohol and assist students who come to the clubs already drunk. Except for the occasional guest, parties on the Street are exclusively for Princeton students. Thanks to the Orange Bubble, many of the risks involved with attending city parties in Boston or New Haven are simply not a consideration here.

Despite their history, eating clubs today have incredibly diverse membership and leadership. The establishment and visibility of the clubs is what makes them both better and more open to criticism than analogous underground organizations at other colleges. As eating club membership is public knowledge, clubs cannot get away with discrimination on the basis of race or gender. Additionally, though students can opt to socialize with others of their gender in Greek organizations, Princeton’s primary social organizations are all thoroughly co-ed — a claim most colleges cannot make.

What about eating clubs that restrict entry to students with “passes,” invitation cards given to non-members by members? While this practice makes some parts of the Street less open, I would make a distinction between elitism and exclusivity. When I throw a dinner party, only my friends are invited, though they are invited regardless of their race, gender and socioeconomic status. Passes are merely an extension of this inevitable social self-segregation: There are people you know and people you don’t. Passes are open and fair. When clubs are on pass, members or bouncers cannot impose arbitrary restrictions on entry. They are also transitive; passes received from a club member can be given to friends of the recipient. Compare that to some fraternity parties at places such as the University of Pennsylvania, which by several friends’ accounts require a freshman boy to walk in with several girls to maintain the “proper ratio.” And though on any given night some clubs will be on pass, the Street as a whole will always have clubs open to any Princeton student, so those who come to the Street with friends will never be turned away for lack of affiliations.

There are many ways in which the eating club system as a whole, and certainly individual eating clubs, could be more inclusive. However, I can guarantee that the Street provides a more unifying, safe and enjoyable social scene than those that exist at any other college you consider.

Allen Paltrow is a freshman from New York, N.Y. He can be reached at apaltrow@princeton.edu.