Cap and Gown Club
Encyclopedia
Cap and Gown Club, founded in 1890, is an eating club at Princeton University
, in Princeton, New Jersey
, United States
. Colloquially known as "Cap", the club is one of the "Big Four" eating clubs at Princeton (the others are The Ivy Club
, University Cottage Club
, and Tiger Inn
). Members are selected through a selective process called bicker
. Sometimes known as "the Illustrious Cap & Gown Club", it was the first selective eating club to accept women. Though personalities of eating clubs certainly change throughout the years, Cap and Gown is described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's
This Side of Paradise
as "anti-alcoholic, faintly religious and politically powerful." Today, the club's membership represents a diverse group of students, with a large percentage of the membership participating in varsity or club sports. In 2011, Cap was the most bickered eating club, with 204 students bickering, 47 percent of whom were offered membership.
and the University Cottage Club
. It is the only Princeton eating club to stay in the same geographic location for its entire existence. Three Cap clubhouses have occupied this location. The first was completed in 1892. In 1895 when the club outgrew this clubhouse, the structure was moved across the street, and William Ralph Emerson
was commissioned to design the second clubhouse (completed in 1896). Ten years later, Cap was ready to expand again. The Emerson building was moved away, and Raleigh Gildersleeve designed the clubhouse that Cap still occupies today. A major renovation and expansion of the clubhouse to increase the size of the clubhouse in step with its growing membership was completed in February 2011.
Notable Cap & Gown Alumni include Dean Cain '88, Brooke Shields '87 and Donald Rumsfeld '54.
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Colloquially known as "Cap", the club is one of the "Big Four" eating clubs at Princeton (the others are The Ivy Club
The Ivy Club
The Ivy Club is the oldest eating club at Princeton University. It was founded in 1879 with Arthur Hawley Scribner as its first head. The members of each class are selected through the bicker process, a series of ten screening interviews, which are followed by discussions amongst the members as...
, University Cottage Club
University Cottage Club
The University Cottage Club is one of ten current eating clubs at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is also one of the five bicker clubs, along with The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, Cap and Gown Club, and Tower Club.-History:...
, and Tiger Inn
Tiger Inn
The Tiger Inn is one of the ten active eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. Tiger Inn was founded in 1890 and is one of the "Big Four" eating clubs at Princeton .. Tiger Inn is the third oldest Eating Club...
). Members are selected through a selective process called bicker
Bicker
Bicker may refer to*Bicker, Lincolnshire*Bicker, a practice in the eating clubs at Princeton University and Mount Olive College*Bicker , a Dutch Golden Age family, headed by Andries Bicker...
. Sometimes known as "the Illustrious Cap & Gown Club", it was the first selective eating club to accept women. Though personalities of eating clubs certainly change throughout the years, Cap and Gown is described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise is the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1920, and taking its title from a line of the Rupert Brooke poem Tiare Tahiti, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive Princeton University...
as "anti-alcoholic, faintly religious and politically powerful." Today, the club's membership represents a diverse group of students, with a large percentage of the membership participating in varsity or club sports. In 2011, Cap was the most bickered eating club, with 204 students bickering, 47 percent of whom were offered membership.
History
Cap is located at 61 Prospect Avenue between Cloister InnCloister Inn
Cloister Inn is one of the undergraduate eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1912, Cloister occupies a neo-Gothic building on Prospect Avenue, between Cap and Gown Club and Charter Club. Cloister closed temporarily in 1972, becoming open to all...
and the University Cottage Club
University Cottage Club
The University Cottage Club is one of ten current eating clubs at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is also one of the five bicker clubs, along with The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, Cap and Gown Club, and Tower Club.-History:...
. It is the only Princeton eating club to stay in the same geographic location for its entire existence. Three Cap clubhouses have occupied this location. The first was completed in 1892. In 1895 when the club outgrew this clubhouse, the structure was moved across the street, and William Ralph Emerson
William Ralph Emerson
-Biography:Emerson was born in Alton, Illinois, a cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and trained in the office of Jonathan Preston , an architect–builder in Boston, Massachusetts. He formed an architectural partnership with Preston , practiced alone for two years, then partnered with Carl Fehmer...
was commissioned to design the second clubhouse (completed in 1896). Ten years later, Cap was ready to expand again. The Emerson building was moved away, and Raleigh Gildersleeve designed the clubhouse that Cap still occupies today. A major renovation and expansion of the clubhouse to increase the size of the clubhouse in step with its growing membership was completed in February 2011.
Notable Cap & Gown Alumni include Dean Cain '88, Brooke Shields '87 and Donald Rumsfeld '54.