Eisgruber looks to maintain rush ban and multi-club bicker, create greater sense of community in residential colleges

Incoming president-elect Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said he will support the freshman rush ban, the multi-club Bicker process and the continued evolution of the residential college system.

Eisgruber said he was a “strong supporter” of the current ban on freshman rush instituted under current President Shirley Tilghman, citing data collected by the University that suggested a “significant degree” of risk to freshmen involved in some fraternity rush activities and of social separation.

“I do fully support the policy that’s in place,” he said.

Former Sigma Chi president Cuauhtemoc Ocampo ’14 said that while he thinks Eisgruber might be more open to discussion regarding the freshman rush ban than Tilghman, he does not think the ban will change in the near future.

“I feel that the implementations regarding Greek life have not just been because of President Tilghman,” Ocampo said. “I believe that it is a larger scope with many more people involved in determining what we should do about Greek life on campus.”

He added that as long as the Greek organizations “keep playing by the rules regarding freshman rush,” then there should be no problem between the University and Greek organizations.

Jake Nebel ’13, former president of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and organizer of the Princeton Greek Council, echoed Ocampo’s feelings that abolishing the rush ban would be unlikely. Nebel has also worked with Eisgruber as a member of the University’s Priorities Committee. While he noted that he thought Eisgruber is the “best possible choice” for the job, he said he did not see “any interesting upshot” for Greek life on campus.

“Professor Eisgruber is a very open-minded person and listens to arguments from both sides, but he shares the administration’s view about the role of Greek life on campus,” Nebel said.

Eisgruber recognized the eating clubs as a source of undergraduate community, noting his support for the newly instituted multi-club bicker system. “I recognize [from] my own experience here that different students look for different options, and I think one of the things that is important now is that there are these different options and they’re meaningful options," he said.

As a junior, Eisgruber was a member of the now-defunct Elm Club, located at what is now the Carl A. Fields Center. He went independent as a senior and lived in the Spelman Halls with three fellow members of Elm Club. He said he remembered his own undergraduate eating experience as "an important source of friendships.”

“I think it’s good to have a Princetonian in the position,” ICC president Connor Clegg ’14 said. “I think President Tilghman was supportive of the reforms and all of the process, and I think [Eisgruber will] continue under that very good working relationship we have.”

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Along with maintaining a good relationship with the administration, Clegg said that one of the ICC’s current goals is to create a website to centralize information about the clubs and multi-club bicker process.

Former ICC president Alec Egan ’13 agreed that Eisgruber’s experience as a University undergraduate would be beneficial to the University’s relationship with the eating clubs. “I’m excited to see what the future holds, and I hope he’ll work with us and appreciate the eating clubs as a pivotal part of the Princeton experience just as Shirley did,” Egan said.

Tilghman praised the clubs' decision to institute multi-club bicker and noted that she did not expect Eisgruber to depart from her administration's policies on social life.

"I think the progress that has been made by the eating clubs themselves in creating a membership system that is easier on students," she said. "Clearly President-elect Eisgruber will have his own views about this, but I would be surprised if he radically changed directions."

Eisgruber also expressed a hope of continuing Tilghman’s expansion of the residential college system, a task she told The Daily Princetonian in November that she felt was unfinished from her presidency. He called the difference in the residential college system before and after Tilghman took office “remarkable.”

“I think one of the fabulous things about this campus is that we’re always asking how can we do better what we’ve been doing for a long time,” Eisgruber said.

Specifically, Eisgruber noted the need to promote “ownership of the student life” within the residential colleges, through events similar to dinners in the eating clubs or those hosted by the Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows, in which students organize social events attended by their peers.

“I feel that we’ve come a long way in terms of the options that we now have and the ways in which we’ve created inclusivity and support throughout the four years of the Princeton experience,” Eisgruber said. “That said, for me one of the things I have find of an opportunity in this regard is that we’ve always hoped — and I think students have hoped — that these residential colleges will become sites of community in the same way that, for example, the eating clubs are.”

Staff writer James Evans and senior writer Monica Chon contributed reporting for this article.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated a quotation by Jake Nebel. He said Eisgruber "shares the administration’s view about the role of Greek life on campus." The 'Prince' regrets the error.

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