Can 11 clubs ­survive on the Street?

News that Cannon Dial Elm Club plans to reopen next year as a bicker club has rekindled concerns about whether there is enough student interest to sustain all of the remaining eating clubs.

Cannon Dial Elm has started to accept applications for membership to gauge student interest, and as of April 5 had received 68 applications, graduate-board chairman Warren Crane ’62 said. The club hopes to accept between 100 and 120 sophomores in the coming year, he said. The graduate board plans to select a bicker committee comprised of sophomores who then will select their peer members.

Crane cited two factors in the club’s bicker decision: The selective clubs have shown greater financial stability, and a decision to become a sign-in club would “absolutely do more damage” to the other nonselective clubs. The 10 existing eating clubs are divided evenly between bicker and sign-in clubs.

The Eating Club Task Force a year ago raised questions about “the continuing financial viability of the clubs, and especially the sign-in clubs.” Robert K. Durkee ’69, the University vice president and secretary who served as chairman of the group, has said there is enough student interest to support “only 9 1 ⁄2 clubs” as costs have increased.

“The opening of a new club could potentially attract students who are not currently participating in the clubs, especially if it appealed to students who have not been attracted to any of the current clubs,” Durkee told PAW. “But given the current challenge of sustaining 10 clubs, it would take a very substantial increase in interest to provide stability for 11 clubs.”