The release of eating club placements to all participating sophomores and juniors on Feb. 4 marked the close of a Street Week characterized by a unique hybrid format and some of the most competitive numbers of the last decade.
Over 1070 sophomores engaged in this year’s Street Week, according to a report from the Interclub Council (ICC). This number marks a 12 percent increase from 2021, and the highest participation rate in the past decade.
For the fourth consecutive year, the ICC reported that 100 percent of sophomores who participated in Street Week were placed into a club. Eighty-three percent of sophomores were placed into their first or second choice clubs.
The ICC also disclosed that 71 percent of sophomores chose to bicker two selective clubs — a five percent decrease from last year. Of sophomores who bickered a selective club, 66.7 percent were admitted, as opposed to 72 percent in 2021.
The Interclub Council’s data did not disclose the number of Bickerees for individual clubs. Those numbers have been provided to The Daily Princetonian at the discretion of each club’s leadership or through individual members, who were granted anonymity since some clubs’ rules prohibit members from speaking to reporters about internal club matters.
The ‘Prince’ obtained numbers for two sign-in clubs, Charter Club and Terrace F. Club.
Charter offered spots to 110 new members, and was ranked by 950 sophomores. While the ‘Prince’ does not have access to Charter sign-in data from 2021, in 2020, the club admitted 125 sophomores and two juniors.
Terrace Club admitted 128 people during their sign-in period, the highest number of students in the last six years.
During the lead up to Street Week, Terrace faced criticism from University community members for using Amharic script in a promotional email. The Princeton Ethiopian and Eritrean Students Association (PEESA) issued a public statement in response to the email, criticizing Terrace for cultural appropriation.
“The isolation of Amharic, spoken by 50+ million people, to be used for aesthetic purposes completely strips away the dignity of the language and of the people who speak it,” they wrote in a Jan. 28 email. Later the same day, Terrace apologized publicly for the mistake.
“Used in ignorance and for superficial aesthetic value, we quickly realized the extremely offensive implications of the message, and would like to apologize deeply for our mistake,” the Terrace Officers wrote in an email to residential college listservs.
“I definitely think there’s a lot of potential in terms of what [DEI initiatives] Terrace has,” Mick Vilariño ’22, Terrace Diversity Equity and Inclusion Chair, said reflecting on the incident. “But there’s a lot more that could be done.”
PEESA officer Kaleb Areda ’24 told the ‘Prince’ that the group appreciated Terrace’s apology. “In the future, it is important for people to be more aware of the languages and images we send out to the public,” Areda said.
In terms of selective clubs, Cap and Gown Club had the most bickerees of all the selective clubs this year with over 372 students. According to Cap Bicker Chair Aryaman Khandelwal ’22, 113 new members were admitted, marking a 7.2 percent drop in acceptance rate from last spring.
Tower Club also experienced a drop in acceptance of 4.2 percent from last year’s 52.9 percent. One student with access to the numbers, speaking anonymously, told the ‘Prince’ that the club welcomed 133 new members: 13 juniors, and 120 sophomores.
Tiger Inn (TI) president Jake Rodgers ’22 said the club considered 240 students this year. This is a significant increase from the 168 who bickered last spring, amid an exclusively online Street Week. TI ultimately admitted 86 students, yielding an acceptance rate of approximately 35 percent.
One student with knowledge of the situation told the ‘Prince’ that TI was overwhelmed by the number of potential new members, conducting interviews and deliberations until nearly 6:45 a.m. on at least one occasion.
Ivy Club accepted 73 of their 280 bickerees, one student with access to the information said. Like its peer clubs, Ivy’s acceptance rate also went down, from 34.1 percent last spring to 26 percent this year.
Cannon Dial Elm hosted 160 bickerees this year, and accepted 81 as new members, according to documents obtained by the ‘Prince.’ At approximately 51 percent, Cannon’s acceptance rate went down nearly four percent from last spring.
As for sign-in clubs, the ICC reported that 14 groups, totaling at 46 students, took advantage of Street Week’s “Group Sign-In” feature.
The ‘Prince’ could not obtain any information on sign-in numbers from Cloister Inn, Quadrangle Club, or Colonial Club, or bicker statistics from Cottage Club, the 6th selective eating club. Multiple requests for comment to the clubs’ student leaders were declined or unanswered.
Izzy Jacobson is a news staff writer and features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at ijacobson@princeton.edu.
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