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40-571: The Princeton Charter Club was organized in the fall of 1901 as Princeton's ninth eating club, with a Senior Section from the Class of 1902 and a Junior Section from the Class of 1903. The name Cloister was at first selected until it was discovered that Yale already had an institution of similar name. About that time the document known as the Charter for the College of New Jersey was found and presented to

80-448: A neo-Gothic building on Prospect Avenue, between Cap and Gown Club and Charter Club . Cloister closed temporarily in 1972, becoming open to all Princeton alumni, before reopening as an undergraduate club in 1977. The club is "sign-in", meaning that it selects its members from a lottery process rather than the bicker process used by several of the eating clubs. Cloister typically attracts an athletic crowd and its members often include

120-464: A chapter on the Princeton campus, which was soon followed by nine more organizations. Fraternities and secret societies were banned from Princeton soon after, with the exception of the university's political, literary, and debating societies. The banning of fraternities, which lasted until the 1980s, gave way for eating clubs to gradually take on the role of social organizations. A fire that damaged

160-414: A club via sign-in are immediately placed into a second-round sign-in where they will be placed into their top choice of club that has not filled. While not every student will get into their first choice of club, either through sign-in or bicker, every student seeking membership has been placed into one of the clubs, though sometimes after a significant waiting period. For upperclassmen who choose not to join

200-413: A decade, until the present "Third Clubhouse", designed by architectural firm Mellor & Meigs was completed in the fall of 1914. Additionally, Charter's real estate assets had grown. In early 1905, at least one adjacent lot was purchased. In the summer of 1905, a squash court was built behind the clubhouse. The expansion of the land holdings encouraged the membership and graduate section of Charter to build

240-489: A dramatic emergency stop after a car was seen on the tracks, at which point ersatz cowboys rode up to the train on horseback and carried off their dates who had been arriving for the weekend. The greatest era of the Eating Clubs was beginning to fade by the late 1960s, however, and looking to prop up stagnating membership figures, Charter announced that it would accept female members, over the objection of many members of

280-463: A house on Prospect Avenue which constitutes three-quarters of the present property. The house was redesigned and enlarged under the supervision of an undergraduate member David Adler of the 1904 Section, with the assistance of Professor Harris of the faculty. The funds for the purchase of this property and the alterations to this second clubhouse were raised by the sale of nineteen $ 1,000 mortgage bonds. The "Adler Clubhouse" would house Charter Club for

320-521: A number of Olympians. The official motto of the club is “Where everybody knows your name”. Cloister Inn was founded in 1912. The present building was constructed in 1924. It was designed by architects R.H. Scannell and Charles Lewis Bowman NRHP Cloister received mention in Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's 2004 bestselling novel The Rule of Four . Caldwell, a 1998 graduate of Princeton,

360-532: A process called "sign-ins". Students rank the five sign-in clubs, or wait-lists for those clubs, in their order of preference. If more students choose a club as their first choice than that club is able to accept as members, a random lottery is used to determine which students are accepted. The remaining students are then placed into their second choice club or wait list, provided it has not filled, in which case they would be placed into their third choice, and so on. Students who choose to bicker and are not admitted to

400-402: A selective process called "bicker", involving an interview process, though the actual deliberations are secret. Five clubs— Charter Club , Cloister Inn , Colonial Club , Quadrangle Club , and Terrace Club —are non-selective "sign-in" clubs, with members chosen through a lottery process. While many upperclassmen (third- and fourth-year students) at Princeton take their meals at the eating clubs,

440-438: A university dining plan. By 2006, the difference was over $ 2,000 for most clubs, and this difference was not covered by university financial aid . In November 2006, Princeton administrators announced that they would increase upperclass financial aid packages by $ 2,000, in order to cover the difference in costs. However, as of December 2009, there was still a "significant discrepancy" between the university financial aid package and

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480-511: A week after all the other eating clubs, and on what would otherwise be initiation night officially "goes dry." Initiation Night '88 is generally considered to be, along with the Section Party of 1930, one of Charter's most infamous moments. In the fall of 2010, Charter announced major modifications to its membership admission system, creating a "weighted sign-in" system that gives preference to sophomores judged to be more enthusiastic about

520-794: Is now the Bendheim Center for Finance ; Elm Club temporarily housed the Classics Department and European Cultural Studies Program and is the new home of the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding. The donation of Campus Club to the university for use as a space for social events was completed in 2006. Cannon Club was briefly converted into Notestein Hall, an office for the University Writing Center, but has since been repurchased by alumni. The club

560-624: The American Whig-Cliosophic Society , which still exists today. Twenty eating clubs have existed since Ivy Club opened in 1879, though never more than 18 at any one time. At various points, many of the eating clubs fell on hard times and closed their doors or merged with others. The now-defunct eating clubs include Campus Club, Key and Seal Club, Arch Club, Gateway Club, Court Club, Arbor Inn, and Prospect Club. Dial, Elm, and Cannon Clubs merged to form DEC Club, which operated from 1990 to 1998. The most recent club to close

600-648: The Charter clubhouse closed its doors, and Charter members left on campus received full membership privileges at Cottage Club . Charter lost seven members in the war, and their sacrifice is commemorated by a plaque located in the "Great Room." Reopening in 1919, Charter quickly gained a reputation as a club personifying the era of the Roaring '20s, carving a niche for itself on campus in the inter-war years. World War II saw Charter closing along with all of its peer institutions, as members almost universally went off to fight abroad. Charter greatly expanded its membership after

640-490: The Charter officer corps, and criminal charges were brought against the president and social chair, who were convicted of serving alcohol to minors, fined $ 500, and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The sentences were later overturned by a Mercer County Court judge, and the two undergraduate officers received probation and were ordered to perform community service. To prevent a similar occurrence, but also to commemorate forever this fateful night, Charter now conducts formal initiations

680-580: The Princeton campus, named "The Well-Meaning Club" and "The Plain-Dealing Club", were founded in the 1760s. These clubs were banned due to dispensary-related reasons but later reemerged as the American Whig Society ("Whig") and the Cliosophic Society ("Clio"). Members of the two societies, which accounted for the majority of the student body, engaged in vigorous competition for recognition in sports as well as campus honors. During

720-1123: The Street is the primary social venue for Princeton students, and each club will have music and parties. Some parties are open to all university students; these are colloquially called "PUID", in reference to the Princeton University ID card which must be shown to bouncers for entrance. Other parties are only open to members or students with special passes, which must be obtained from members. Friday nights are much more low-key at Princeton, and clubs that are open are usually open only to members. The notable exceptions are Charter Club and Colonial Club, which are open to all university students. Each club also has semiformal events and formal dinners and dances. Special events are held annually or biannually at every club. Some are specific to particular clubs; these are usually themed parties, such as "Boxers and Blazers" at Cap and Gown. Other events are common to all clubs. These events include: Lawnparties, when clubs hire bands to play outdoors on their lawns on

760-549: The Sunday before the first full week of fall classes; Winter Formals, which take place on the last Saturday before winter break; Initiations, where new sophomore recruits are introduced to club life (usually in early February); and Houseparties, a three-day festival at the end of spring term during which each club has a Friday night formal, a Saturday night semiformal, a champagne brunch on Sunday morning, and another round of Lawnparties on Sunday afternoon. The earliest social clubs on

800-475: The Supreme Court regarding Frank's lawsuit was denied. The eating clubs have attracted controversy, being viewed as outdated, elitist institutions ( Woodrow Wilson was, in part, driven from Princeton by alumni and administrators because he loathed the effect the clubs had on academic and social life). A major part of the controversy was the difference in cost between joining an eating club and buying

840-632: The Third Clubhouse, which was and is a far more imposing edifice than either the Adler Clubhouse or even the "Incubator". Today, Charter is widely regarded as having one of the finest clubhouses on "The Street." After the United States entered World War I , Charter was temporarily closed due to reduced membership caused by widespread member enlistment in the armed forces. For a period of less than two years, between 1917 and 1919,

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880-587: The University Cottage Club. The actors Jimmy Stewart and David Duchovny were members of the Charter Club, and the actors Dean Cain and Brooke Shields were members of Cap and Gown. Eating clubs have sometimes closed and returned to active life. The Cloister Club was reopened in the 1970s and continues successfully. Some closed eating clubs have been purchased by the university for use as academic and administrative buildings. Dial Lodge

920-522: The University's refectory in 1856 caused a major rise in student membership in eating clubs. Towards the end of the 19th century the eating clubs began to recruit new members as old ones left and also began to lease or buy permanent facilities. Ivy Club was the first of the permanent eating clubs. It was followed shortly after by University Cottage Club . This process was greatly aided by Moses Taylor Pyne , who provided financial assistance to most of

960-499: The club membership selects new members in closed sessions, the conduct of which varies from club to club. The clubs initiate their new members the following weekend. Additionally, some bicker clubs conduct a smaller "Fall Bicker" for third and fourth year students. Admission numbers during fall bicker are typically much lower than those of spring bicker, as fall bicker is a chance for clubs to adjust their membership numbers to account for members who may have dropped club membership during

1000-502: The club, based on their involvement in club activities and attendance at events open to sophomores." In February 2011, operating under this new system, Charter was again the only sign in club to fill its sophomore section in the first round of sign-ins. Cloister Inn Cloister Inn is one of the undergraduate eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton , New Jersey , United States . Founded in 1912, Cloister occupies

1040-436: The clubs are private institutions and are not officially affiliated with Princeton University . They have been subject to criticism for perceived elitism. The primary function of the eating clubs is to serve as dining halls for the majority of third- and fourth-year students. Unlike fraternities and sororities , to which the clubs are sometimes compared, all of the clubs admit both male and female members, and members (with

1080-527: The cost of some clubs. (Cannon Dial Elm Club) 26 Prospect Ave The seven selective eating clubs pick new members in a process called "bicker". Bicker begins each spring semester during the week following intersession break, when interested sophomores come to the club they would like to join. The bicker process varies widely by club, ranging from staid interviews conducted by club members to raucous games designed to foster competition among potential inductees. Following two or three evenings of bicker activities,

1120-452: The early days of Princeton University, the Whig and Clio societies dominated the social life and activities of the student body. The first eating clubs emerged under this context as small informal dining societies, in which Princeton students gathered to take meals at a common table and often disbanded when the founders graduated. In 1843 Beta Theta Pi , a national fraternity at the time, founded

1160-431: The eating clubs. An early member of Ivy Club , Pyne was heavily involved in the early development of Cap and Gown Club , Campus Club , Elm Club, Cloister Inn, and many others. The new clubs (along with other new extracurricular activities) gradually eroded the central role that debate societies Whig and Clio played in undergraduate student life. The decline in popularity and energy of the societies led to their merger into

1200-568: The exception of Terrace Club which is just around the corner on Washington Road. This area is known to students colloquially as "The Street". Princeton's eating clubs are the primary setting in F. Scott Fitzgerald 's 1920 debut novel , This Side of Paradise , and the clubs appeared prominently in the 2004 novel The Rule of Four . Princeton undergraduates have their choice of eleven eating clubs. Six clubs— Cannon Club , Cap and Gown Club , Princeton Tower Club , The Ivy Club , Tiger Inn and University Cottage Club —choose their members through

1240-572: The exception of some of the undergraduate officers) do not live in the mansion. The eating clubs also provide many services for their members. Each club, in general, has a living room , library , computer cluster, billiard room , and tap room . Members frequently use club facilities for studying and socializing. Each club also has a large lawn, either in front of or behind the mansion, and on days with nice weather, one will often see Princeton students playing various sports, such as lawn bowling , on club lawns. On most Thursday and Saturday nights,

Princeton Charter Club - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-442: The grad board, shortly after the university made the switch to coeducation . In 1977, Charter made the switch from bicker selectivity to sign-in openness in order to draw more members. The club remained financially stable throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, as six of its peers shut their doors permanently. Throughout this tumultuous period, Charter never quite lost its carefree atmosphere and wild touch—best exemplified perhaps by

1320-511: The infamous Initiation Night of 1988. In 1988, Charter counted as members most of the Varsity Football Team, including many of the '89 section's officers. It was some of these gridiron heroes who allegedly planned the raucous celebration of the admission of the new sophomore section which led to 45 members sent to McCosh Infirmary or Princeton Medical Center for alcohol-related reasons. The Princeton Borough Police quickly rounded up

1360-529: The spring semester or over the summer. Bicker clubs hold parties with restricted admission more frequently than their sign-in counterparts. Such events often require that non-members present a pass, a colored card bearing the club's insignia, in order to enter. Non-members may also gain entry to parties at some bicker clubs by entering with a member, or through membership in the Inter-Club Council. The four non-selective eating clubs pick new members in

1400-400: The university. Charter's current neighbor to the west, Cloister Inn , later took the discarded name. A small building on Olden Street—known as the "Incubator" because several other clubs had started there while they waited for sufficient finances to buy or build a proper clubhouse—was leased and the furnishing paid for by subscriptions. In the spring of 1903 the club purchased three lots and

1440-514: The war, but disaster struck closer to home in 1949 when a fire spread rapidly through much of the first and second floors causing heavy damage. A fire marshal summoned to the scene of the fire, on seeing the facade of Charter seemingly unaffected, declared famously, "I have never seen a building survive a fire like this, nothing is indestructible, but this place is damn near." Charter's membership has since often referred to it as "The Indestructible Charter Club," or simply "The Indestructible." Charter

1480-545: Was Campus Club, which shut down in 2005. The eating clubs and their members have figured prominently among Princeton alumni active in careers in literature and the performing arts. For example, the distinguished Pulitzer Prize writer Booth Tarkington , who transformed the Drama Association into the Princeton Triangle Club , was a prominent member of Ivy Club. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a member of

1520-401: Was a member of Cloister. Eating club (Princeton University) Princeton University eating clubs are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses , where the majority of Princeton undergraduate upperclassmen eat their meals. Each eating club occupies a large mansion on Prospect Avenue, one of the main roads that runs through the Princeton campus, with

1560-464: Was known throughout the 1950s and 1960s for its hard partying ways—Charter parties were only rivaled at the time by those at perennial animal house Cannon Club . It is suspected, but not known, that at least one Charter member rode with members of Cap and Gown Club in the so-called Great Train Robbery of '63, in which the "dinky" train running from Princeton Junction into Princeton was forced to make

1600-406: Was reopened as Cannon Dial Elm Club in fall 2011. In 1979, undergraduate Sally Frank filed suit against then all-male clubs Ivy Club, Cottage Club, and Tiger Inn for sex discrimination. While Cottage chose to coeducate during the intervening years, Ivy Club and Tiger Inn were forced to become co-ed organizations in 1991, 22 years after Princeton first admitted female students, after their appeal to

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