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All of the eating clubs will be up and running for Lawnparties this weekend – all except Cannon Dial Elm Club, whose long-awaited return has been getting just a little longer since its first planned reopening in the spring of 2008.
But, slowly yet surely, Cannon is prepping for its revival (and praying it will be more Casino Royale than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Graduate board chair Warren Crane ’62 said they are currently working on the ten residence rooms on the club’s fourth floor, and expect to finish all renovations this fall.
While the club has been getting a makeover, the graduate board has been pouring over applications from the first crop of prospective Cannonites (Cannonians? Cannoners?) and interviewing bicker committee candidates.
In characteristic Cannon fashion, it’s an ongoing process with an uncertain end date, but the 10-20 sophomores ultimately chosen will have the responsibility of selecting Cannon’s first class out of 189 applicants. If they hit the graduate board’s stated target of 110 members, Cannon’s acceptance rate would be between 60% and 65%, about even with Tower’s numbers from last spring. Only Cap & Gown was more selective.
Crane said he was “very pleased” with the level of interest from the Class of 2014, suggesting that the opportunity to have a role in building the new club’s culture may have made Cannon particularly appealing.
Upperclassmen were less enthusiastic. 30 juniors and over a dozen seniors have applied since Cannon’s graduate board extended the invitation to join as “social members” on August 15, Crane said, while their goal is to recruit 100 upperclassmen. The question is whether its blank slate mystique (and legendary three taprooms) will be intriguing enough to draw students who have already made their eating club/independent/residential college choice.
But Cannon fans, take heart: in addition to revealing an ongoing fondness for all caps, the upperclassmen invitation email specifically promises that “Cannon Dial Elm Club will definitely reopen as an undergraduate eating club in the Cannon building at 21 Prospect Avenue during the 2011-2012 school year.” Interested upperclassmen are encouraged to submit applications soon to ensure a chance at joining the new club.
