Princeton University to suspend freshmen who join Greek organizations

[Bay]

<p>midatlmom,
Why pick on me? Are you going to rip into Smith and American U and Chicago, Northwestern, Wellesley and Yale, too? Cuz people who arguably made “snarky” comments have kids at those schools, too.</p>

<p>Its “Final Clubs,” not “finals clubs.”</p>

[Wildwood11]

<p>

But I think you are correct about the issue of “prevailing campus culture”. The more exclusive eating clubs - and its members - who tend to be wealthier, whiter, more athletic, and tending toward fraternity membership - set the tone for the rest of the campus.

</p>

<p>I said the report does NOT purport to describe a “prevailing campus culture”. It only speaks to issues specifically related to Eating clubs, which is only one aspect of campus culture.</p>

<p>

AND there are lots of students apparently who feel somewhat disenfranchised by that prevailing culture, and the university - to its profound credit - is seeking ways to deal with that.

</p>

<p>Where exactly does it draw this conclusion? This is YOUR personal interpretation of the facts which do suggest that the selective clubs are skewed toward white, the Greek-affiliated, and athletes, as well as students from wealthier backgrounds. The possible causes of this have been mentioned previously and are not particular to Princeton. The report does not, however, determine that a significant number of students outside those clubs feel “disenfranchised”.</p>

<p>The university, I believe, would like social organizations to be as diverse and open as possible as part of their educational goals for student interaction, but that does not mean that those who are outside a particular organization are feeling left out.</p>

<p>Again, I cite the example of my daughter who is probably fairly typical of someone who has decided not to join a club, but who is in no way bothered by the system and supports the choices that her friends make.</p>

[epiphany]

<p>

the report does NOT purport to describe a “prevailing campus culture”. It only speaks to issues specifically related to Eating clubs, which is only one aspect of campus culture.

</p>

<p>Precisely, Wildwood. Thank you. :)</p>

[Hunt]

<p>

People in single-sex social clubs are happier than people who didn’t get into such clubs. That’s awful. There’s probably a whole group of kids who couldn’t get into frats/sororities/finals clubs who are unhappy. And, wow, the campus life must be so divided by the fact that kids who didn’t get into the clubs are upset. And frankly, even the term “finals clubs” sounds so pretentious, doesn’t it.

Every college has problems. Pointing out Harvard’s problems doesn’t really tell us much about Princeton.</p>

<p>Princeton has its own culture. Not everybody wants to go to a college with that particular culture, so it’s a good thing for people to be able to get a reasonably accurate understanding of what it is before they apply. This is true of every college as well.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton all have some ingrained social institutions that make some students happy, and may some other students unhappy. They are not the same, however, and some people will prefer one over the others.</p>