More women at the helm in Princeton

Princeton, New Jersey

PRINCETON University's eating clubs are where most of its upperclassmen go for dinner every night, as the name implies.

But the name also understates the significance of the clubs in the social lives of Princeton students. Winning a leadership role is a sign of status and achievement, and the clubs' parties are widely considered the exclamation point for the week.

One of the oldest clubs, Tiger Inn, has long carried a reputation for partying a little harder than most. It also had, by many accounts, a reputation for insensitivity to female students, and two of its officers were removed last fall after sending e-mails that ridiculed women.

But this week, Tiger Inn made news of a different sort: For the first time since the university began admitting women in 1969, it elected a woman as its president. And though it is but one of 11 clubs, its election of Grace Larsen might reflect a larger shift at the university, which still wrestles with the role of women.

Ivy Club, the oldest eating club, recently elected its second female president, Eliza Mott. Ivy and Tiger Inn were the last two clubs to admit women, and only did soon after a 1990 court order. Women are in charge at four of the clubs, the highest total since 2002 and three more than last year.

"I think the consensus that the club came to this year is that we're establishing a culture where women are running, and women are winning," Liz Lian, 22, a senior in Ivy from Chester, said.

Women also won top spots in the Undergraduate Student Government and the Daily Princetonian, the college newspaper.

The trajectory at Princeton, however, has not been steady. A 2011 report on women's leadership at the university, whose student body is evenly divided between the sexes, found that "there has been a pronounced drop-off in the representation of women in these prominent posts since 2000". The report attributed the imbalance to factors that included a tendency for women to undersell themselves and to seek important roles in smaller organisations or high-responsibility but low-profile roles in larger ones. Some women also were discouraged from seeking high-profile positions.

While women at Princeton in the early days of co-education felt a need to prove themselves, the report said, that feeling had faded. The report said that encouraging women to become leaders on campus would make them more comfortable with leadership and called for mentor programmes.

"It's an important thing to have female representation," said Ms Mott, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the president of Ivy Club. "Perceptions change and new precedents are set." Ms Mott, 30, who is studying art history, is also the president of SpeakOut Princeton, a student organisation that discusses sexual violence and consent on campus, an issue preoccupying colleges nationwide.

Princeton is no exception - the university was found in violation of Title IX regulations regarding its handling of sexual harassment and assault complaints last fall. The eating clubs, which are privately owned but often work with the administration, have focused on addressing issues of sexual misconduct, said Joseph Margolies, the student president of the Interclub Council, a group that coordinates efforts between the clubs. He added that women's leadership was part of that discussion.

New urgency was given to the effort in December, when Tiger Inn removed the two officers for sending the e-mails. One e-mail contained a sexually explicit photograph; the other took aim at Sally Frank, the alumna whose lawsuit forced Tiger Inn to admit women. Around the time those e-mails circulated, someone painted the words "rape haven" on the club's stone fence.

The stumbles led Tiger Inn's graduate board, which oversees the club, to work to change how members and officers are chosen. "We had some challenges in the fall, and a lot of those challenges had to do with a mindset around gender issues," Hap Cooper, 55, the president of the graduate board, said.

This year, Tiger Inn accepted more women than men, a first in its history, according to Mr Cooper. All officers were elected - half used to be appointed - and votes were cast via a more accountable online platform. In addition to Ms Larsen, two women and three men were also elected to officer positions.

"The grad board and the club worked as a group to achieve gender parity in the election," Mr Cooper said. But one student, who said that she became disillusioned by the club and dropped out of it this semester and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retribution from members, wondered whether the changes would be lasting or just damage control.

The negative attention also resulted in the club's advocates for female leadership being taken more seriously, she said. "Now these people have more of a voice," she said. "Before they would have been laughed out of town."

Ivy's elections also resulted in a gender-balanced group of officers, which had not happened in recent years. Ms Mott said that she was excited about that and encouraged by the opportunities for change given the short institutional memory of the club.

Also buoyed by the results was Ms Frank, now 55, the woman who took on the male-only clubs and won.

"It's extremely gratifying," she said. "The election isn't going to end all sexism on Princeton's campus. But it can help." NYT