Editing Colonial Club (section)

== Club culture ==

=== Activities and traditions ===
[[File:Colonial Lawnparties, 2015.jpg|thumb|Lawnparties at Colonial Club, 2015, featuring [[Lil Dicky]]]]
Continuing its established traditions originating from the Roaring Twenties, Colonial frequently hosts events for its members and guests including game nights, intramural sports, semiformals, and winter and spring house parties. The club also participates in events such as trivia night, club field days, bonfires, outdoor BBQs, and therapy dog study breaks.

As with other the eating clubs, Colonial has participated in the university's annual Lawnparties music festival, hosting artists such as [[Between Friends (music group)|Between Friends]], [[Crash Adams]], and Weston Estate in recent years. Traditions at Colonial include its annual medieval feast and thesis phrase, where members attempt to insert a humorous line into their Princeton University senior thesis.

[[File:Fresh Oysters at Colonial.jpg|thumb|Fresh oysters prepared by Chef Ramirez at Colonial Club]]
Colonial's large, white columns are often seen illuminated by lights on Friday nights, when the club is open to students of Princeton University and other members of the Princeton community.

As an eating club, Colonial members often have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the clubhouse daily, with brunch served on the weekends. The club's buffet-style meals often feature an open grill, smoothie station, and panini bar. Other popular options include the club's fresh oysters, BBQ ribs, udon, fish tacos, Korean short ribs, and pork buns. In the 1960s, Colonial was the second of the eating clubs to offer a vegetarian contract, which was slightly cheaper than the regular meal plan offered to members.{{sfn|''100th Anniversary Book''|p=108}}

=== Academics and community service ===
Colonial has been committed to maintaining a rigorous scholarly community and providing professional opportunities to its members. The club's Professor Dinner Series allows members and guests to debate and discuss various topics with university professors, who are invited weekly to the club to discuss their research or engage in conversation. Furthermore, the club manages a student-run portfolio of over $100,000 in assets under management (AUM) and hosts its own in-house software development team.

Colonial Club has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Princeton-Blairstown Center, a program founded in 1908 by Princeton University students and faculty that attempts to transform the lives of young people through character-building experiences. The club holds an annual charity talent show in order to raise money for a variety of nonprofit organizations including HomeFront NJ. In addition, Colonial Club is noted for its enthusiasm towards influenza vaccines, leading all Princeton eating clubs in flu shots for H1N1, H5N1, and every major flu strain seen since 1975. This was sparked by Colonial's loss of 90% of its members to the [[1918 flu pandemic]].

=== Management ===
[[File:Colonial Club Officers, 2012.jpg|thumb|Colonial Club Undergraduate Officers, 2012]]
As with the past century, Colonial Club is managed by the Graduate Board of Governors, composed of graduate members of the club, and the Undergraduate Officers, who are elected each December. Colonial Club's executive chef, Gilberto Ramirez, has been in post for over 11 years. Ramirez graduated from the [[International Culinary Center|French Culinary Institute]] and previously worked at [[Jasna Polana|TPC Jasna Polana]]. The club is also directed by a club manager, Kathleen Galante, who oversees day-to-day affairs.

Colonial Club celebrated its 125th anniversary under graduate president Joseph Studholme '84, who has led the board since 2009, and undergraduate president Christopher J. Yu '17. Continuing its 1934 tradition of having formal member-alumni dinners, the club held its 125th Anniversary Celebration with a cruise dinner aboard the Atlantica Yacht on the New York Harbor.