<p>My S is deciding between Princeton and some other colleges and in the course of his research is getting more and more concerned about the eating club scene and what it seems to represent about the social atmosphere at Princeton. The bicker process sounds sophomoric and exclusionary. There are a series of four articles in the Daily Princetonian on eating clubs, including one from February 10 (<a href="http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/02/10/news/14417.shtml)%5B/url%5D">http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/02/10/news/14417.shtml)</a>, excerpts of which include:</p>
<p>Those interviewed stressed that their experiences do not necessarily reflect the totality of the experience for every person who bickers. The stories do, however, give a flavor of a system that varies widely from club to club. .... Prospective Cap members filled out forms with their names, addresses and interests, and then posed for photographs to assist members in connecting stories to faces during discussions. Meanwhile, current members lined the center staircase, ready to sweep bickerees away for interviews and games. The main guideline was that members interact with students they hadn't yet met .One sophomore described the games they played, ranging from two truths and a lie and Catch Phrase to sex charades and a wrestling tournament. Throughout these sessions, members fired questions at them from why they wanted to join Cap to whom they would hookup with in the club. A particularly memorable event for some came when prospective members faked orgasms on top of dining tables, as members stood and watched "A friend of mine and some people ended up walking to a store and trying on clothes ... as cross-dressers. Everybody thought it was pretty funny and had a good time." On Sunday afternoon, prospective members gathered in the front hall of University Cottage Club and wrote their names on small note cards. Members then grabbed multiple cards and took bickerees away for group interviews and games. "The worst thing I had to do was pass a goldfish in my mouth," one sophomore bickeree said. Two lines of six prospective members raced each other to pass the flapping orange goldfish from mouth to mouth. No one was forced to eat the fish, the student said. Many aspiring members participated in other eating contests. One bickeree's favorite activity was handless Jello-eating. Students were given the choice to play dirty charades, similar to the game at Cap, in which they mimicked different sexual positions and acts. In between playing games, members gauged students' interest in Cottage by repeatedly asking them why they wanted to join and what their other interests were. One awkward situation was the final night of "spotlight" Bicker. In this activity, prospective members had a spotlight shone on them effectively blinding them to those around them as members rapidly asked questions such as, "Who do you think is the best-looking member?...After the three days of Bicker ended, the members of each club gathered for two to three nights, sometimes into the early morning, to make decisions about prospective members.</p>
<p>Can any Princeton students or alums give some perspective on what sounds to me like a less than appealing experience? Is membership in the clubs important to having a good Princeton experience? Are the students not in the eating clubs the nerds and outcasts? How does entry into the non-selective eating clubs work?</p>