199 bicker Cap, Tower receives 26 percent fewer bickerees

Cap & Gown Club was both the most bickered and the most selective club on the Street this year, accepting 95 new members out of 199 bickerees.

Acceptance rates for bicker clubs ranged between 47.7 percent, for Cap, and 79.5 percent, for Tiger Inn. Tower, the most bickered club last year, received 26 percent fewer bickerees than last year.

Of the 95 new Cap members, 92 are sophomores and the other three are juniors, according to outgoing Cap president Alec Egan ’13.

In total, the clubs received 831 applications, including cross-bickerees, and have 515 new members.

"The numbers are substantially higher," Egan said, referring to last year's lower bicker class of 157, of which 93 students were accepted. "We saw a big increase due to the multi-club."

Egan, who is also the outgoing president of the Interclub Council, said that more than 1,000 students logged onto the online eating club admission system, though he has not received the exact numbers yet. This number provides an indication about how many students expressed a desire to join an eating club, by either signing in or bickering.

The system was open to sophomores, juniors, seniors and exchange students.

In contrast to Cap, TI was the least selective bicker club this year, accepting 79.5 percent of those who bickered.

Out of the 117 students who bickered, TI accepted 93 students. These numbers are comparable to last year, when TI admitted 91 of the 126 bickering students.

However, TI president Ben Barron ’13 explained that only 88 students ended up joining the club, since five of the students TI accepted had bickered two clubs and ranked another club higher.

"It's easy to feel a little disappointed if a student joins a different club," Barron said. Regardless, he believes the multi-club Bicker process was a success during its first year and is "excited about the new system."

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74 new members are sophomores, 12 are juniors, one is a senior and one is an exchange student.

The number of students who bickered Tower decreased from 207 last year to 154. The club admitted 107 students, one more than last year's total of 106, for a 69.5 percent acceptance rate.

101 of the new members are sophomores, five are juniors and one is a senior.

"It's a little bit smaller than we had last year, but I thought this was a great week," Tower president Jamie Joseph ’13 said, noting that the numbers fluctuate every year. "There is a natural flow of our numbers, so it's tough to say what exactly changes that."

The newest club on the Street, Cannon Dial Elm Club, will add 59 sophomores to its current membership, after taking 120 students during its first-ever Bicker session last year. 101 students bickered Cannon this year.

"I think people are bickering Cannon because of the atmosphere we created, not because it's a new club," Cannon president Connor Clegg ’14 said.

Ivy Club admitted 73 of the 120 students who bickered for a 60.8 percent acceptance rate, according to outgoing Ivy president Jason Ramirez ’13.

Cottage Club president William Minshew ’13 did not respond to requests for comment, but according to sources within the club, Cottage accepted 93 of 140 bickerees.

Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Cannon accepted 58.4 percent of bickerees. In fact, 58.4 percent of those who bickered ended up joining the club. Due to incorrect information provided to The Daily Princetonian, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the number of juniors and seniors accepted to Tower. The club selected five juniors and one senior. The ‘Prince’ regrets the error.