fun & Crisco at Princeton
[nice pic of the dick-in-a-box at the original]
New York Observer - February 26, 2007
20070226/20070226SpencerMorganpageonenewsstory2.asp> Undercover at Princeton=92s Eating Clubs
Lingerie, beer and a big tub of Crisco! They=92re keepin=92 it classy = over at the Ivy League=92s New Jersey outpost. Spencer Morgan On Saturday, Feb. 17, the University Cottage Club, one of Princeton’s = most exclusive eating clubs, threw its annual lingerie party. Around = midnight, the club=97which was founded in 1886=97was packed with male and = female students in various states of undress, and a girl in a black = negligee was reflecting on how race and sex still play a significant = role in the club’s selection process. “This club is filled with good-looking people and girls who eat = salads,” said the athletically built brunette, who was not a member = of Cottage. “This year, they let in one black girl=97because she was = pretty.” How could she be so sure that looks were the deciding factor? “She = had no affiliations,” the brunette replied firmly. “This club cares = about affiliations.” Indeed, the scantily clad female revelers inside the white-trimmed = brick mansion=97a New Jersey historic landmark with a library, = billiards room and dance floor=97were by and large Caucasian and “salad- = eater” thin. And the skinnier they were, the more skin they were = showing. “There’s gonna be a contest in their minds, believe me,” = said a Cottage member, a varsity-baseball player, limning the psyches = of the ladies in lingerie. “They’re going to come out swingin’.” Male members of the club are typically known as “jocks” and “Southern = good ol’ boys”=97but a sophomore named Jeff was out to dispel = stereotypes. “I don’t think this club’s sexist,” he said. “I mean, = look around=97I think the guys are wearing less clothes than the girls!” Nearby, in the club’s crowded tap bar, a tall, hairy male student was = wearing nothing but a wrapped present covering his genitals, =E0 la = Justin Timberlake’s Saturday Night Live “Dick in a Box” sketch. A = fellow Princetonian walked by and slapped the box to the floor. Many = boys broke out laughing. Several girls looked away, blushing demurely. The elitist nature of Princeton’s eating clubs has long been a cause = of controversy. An outgrowth of the university’s ban on fraternities = in the middle of the 19th century, some 20 eating clubs have lived = and died along Prospect Avenue. Today, only 10 remain, five of which = are still selective clubs (the others, known as “sign-ups,” are = assigned to students via a lottery system). The university’s official line is that the clubs are not affiliated = with the school=97aside from the fact that roughly three-fourths of the = school’s upperclassmen take their meals there. “The university does = not regulate the eating clubs,” said Princeton spokeswoman Cass = Cliatt. “The clubs are managed and operated by their membership. It’s = important to understand they’re independent establishments, similar = to a restaurant.” In November of last year, however, in anticipation of the upcoming = eating-clubs rush season (a process known as “bicker”), the school = announced an increase in financial-aid packages to address the $2,000 = price difference between the eating clubs and the university’s dining = plans, tacitly acknowledging the eating clubs’ place of primacy in = the firmament of campus life. Each club has a different vibe, and on Saturday night, a general = spirit of merriment and community was apparent along “the Street,” as = students refer to Prospect Avenue. (At the sign-in club Colonial, for = example, inductees were being directed to jump into a giant tub of = pudding and Crisco.) But in conversations with various students at a = handful of the more exclusive clubs, it was clear that race and class = are still significant issues for Princeton students undergoing bicker = in 2007. At the Cap and Gown Club, which was having a members-only formal = dinner party that night, a short, voluptuous female engineering major = in a white cocktail dress described the landscape. “Tower is theater = majors, artsy people=97but conservative,” she said. “Terrace is very = artsy, experimental with drugs. Cottage is very snobby, lots of = legacy people”=97meaning scions of Princeton alumni=97″mostly all white, = a bit discriminatory. Ivy also is legacy, mostly white, filled with = the beautiful skinny people.” (Calls later to each of the clubs went = unreturned.) The scene at Cap and Gown, known for its athletic membership, = appeared racially diverse. In fact, nearly every member who was asked = what distinguished this club from the others used the words “chill” = and “mixed.” “It’s a good mix,” said a junior named Logan. “You get called out if = you’re a dick; everyone tries to be chill.” His friend, a guy named Lev, agreed. “Pretty much, if you’re chill, = you’ll get in,” he said. Not so with the Ivy Club, which a ‘96 alumnus said, a bit = disgustedly, “is now a vice den that would make Tony Montana weep.” A = current student who recently failed bicker there described the = process as extremely selective. “Obviously, the chances of a minority = person being eighth-generation at Ivy bicker is zero,” he said, = referring to a white girl from an “old” family who was admitted this = year. “Minorities who get in, get in for a reason. They’ve usually = already been through finishing school and have the right affiliations.” By “affiliations,” the source was referring to the various other = fraternities and clubs on campus. “Each group=97St. A’s [the literary = society, St. Anthony Hall], Theta, Zeta Psi and so on=97they each have = their one token, and those are the minorities that get into Ivy,” = said the source. Rejection can be emotionally devastating. “People = kind of go into hiding,” said the source. With perhaps a note of = bitterness, he described recent admittees, including Sophie Schmidt, = daughter of Google chief executive Eric Schmidt (”Absolutely plain,” = he sneered); Luisa de Carvalho, granddaughter of deceased billionaire = beer mogul Freddy Heineken; and Alice Lloyd George, a descendant of = the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. There were also some surprises. “University student vice president Josh Weinstein got hosed,” said = the source. “He’s been doing amazing things for the students, but = that’s not really what Ivy considers important. His mother is a = bigwig at the clothing line Tahari, but that didn’t suffice either.” Francesco Lugli was a close friend and fellow Chi Phi frat brother of = Ivy president Wyatt Rockefeller. “Everyone thought for sure Fran = would get in=97he’s even friends with all the hot girls in Ivy,” said = the source, citing one of them, Lily Cowles, daughter of actress = Christine Baranski. The source also reported that the bicker process at Ivy this year was = corrupted by factors weirder than race and wealth. “Lola Adekunle = accidentally locked herself in the Ivy’s walk-in freezer, and one of = the people she texted to come rescue her was Tamara Watson, who was = one of the bickerees that she had interviewed,” he gasped. “That’s = totally against the rules=97and, of course, Tamara ended up getting in.” This year’s Ivy bicker guide, a six-page, single-spaced document, = features a red-highlighted section on “dirty bicker,” meaning members = interviewing pledges with whom the member has a previous = relationship. “This should go without saying, but you cannot bicker = someone you know (or have heard enough about them to ‘know’ them = well, i.e. your best friend’s best friend that you have not ‘met’),” = the manifesto commands. “You cannot be predisposed to giving a person = a particular card prior to bickering them (i.e. you would never give = them a down card or an up card due to certain preconceptions or = relationships).” Since the decisions came down on Friday, Feb. 16, spurned Ivy pledges = have been buzzing about the unfair treatment Ms. Watson may have = received. “She rescued her bickerer from being frozen,” the source = said incredulously. “If that’s not going to prejudice you, what is?”