On the Campus - February 9, 2000
Sophomore traditions in flux
What to do when there's no snow, and changing the rules at Colonial
Club
by Jeremy Weissman '01
No nude is good nude
University administrators banned the Nude Olympics this year, instituting a stringent policy that promises suspension for anyone caught evoking the Olympic spirit on the evening of the first snowfall. No one knows yet if the policy is an effective one, because as the first semester drew to a close, Mother Nature had not provided any snow.
The university began investigating the possibility of ending the event after incidents of vandalism and reported sexual misconduct at last year's romp. Despite a student outcry and student government support of the Olympics at discussion forums last spring, the ban went into effect at the beginning of this academic year.
Searching for a class spirit-builder to replace the Nude Olympics, sophomores briefly considered burning an effigy of Dean of Student Life Janina Montero, who had become the Nude Olympics' most public opponent. The effigy burning was agreed to by Montero herself after administrators rejected a handful of alternative proposals, including a bathing suit beach party and an outdoor food fight on the evening of the first snowfall.
Sophomore class president Ben Shopsin decided not to go ahead with the effigy burning after receiving over 100 e-mails from classmates who opposed the idea. In a letter to The Daily Princetonian, Shopsin wrote that "the burning of an effigy would not invoke the feeling of class solidarity that the Nude Olympics seemed to symbolize.
"We do not wish a spiteful act like the burning of an effigy to be the lasting memory of our class at Princeton," the letter continued. Shopsin closed with an exhortation: "When the first snow comes, be creative and have a good time! The trustees may not think you deserve it, but I think you do."
Dean's Date came and went without a new event proposal on the table, and Mother Nature managed to get another word in on the issue, sweeping in with the worst cold front Princeton has seen in years. If exams were not enough to keep students' minds off outdoor nudity, a minus 10-degree wind chill almost certainly was.
Colonial cluster
Another sophomore tradition in transition this month was club sign-ins the first week of February. Amid rumors of a sophomore takeover of the club, Colonial offered sophomores $500 guaranteed membership contracts prior to the official club sign-in week. Nearly 50 students agreed to early membership, putting Colonial well on its way toward its spring goal of 90 sign-ins.
The 50 early sign-ins came from a group of sophomores who agreed to join the club en masse, new Colonial president Melissa Waage '01 said. The Colonial graduate board had met in mid-November with members of two hard-partying Greek organizations, the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, and the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, but the new sign-in group does not have any formal associations with either, according to Waage. "It's a loose association of people who simply know each other," she said.
Rumors of a takeover had been circulating since spring of last year, when Colonial received only 34 new sign-ins. During the fall semester club membership dropped to around 60 students, Colonial officials said. The club considered various reforms to make membership more appealing but, despite some talk about going dry, did not consider becoming Prospect Street's first no-alcohol eating club to be a viable option. "It seems to me drinking is part of the 'Street' social scene," outgoing club president Todd Meierhans '00 told The Daily Princetonian. "[M]aking a club alcohol-free would not be a strong enough reason for people to join."
Waage said the early sign-in round was probably a one-time break from traditional sign-in procedures. "Even though we're signing in a rather large group, we're doing what we can to preserve the kind of diversity that you will find in a sign-in club," she said.
Jeremy Weissman '01 is majoring in comparative literature and is a member of the Press Club.
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