When 605 Princeton sophomores signed the petition in 1949. they seemed to be striking a blow for democracy. For years Princeton's 17 private eating clubs, which President Woodrow Wilson tried to abolish, had been taking in the most desirable sophomores and leaving a small, unwanted minority out in the cold. Unless, said the '49 petition, the clubs made sure that every single man got at least one invitation during the annual bicker (bidding), no sophomores would join a club at all. The petition carried the day: the permanent 100% bicker had come to Princeton at last.
Somehow it did not work out....
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