Women Presidents of Eating Clubs

Let’s get down to brass tacks: I’m sad to say that there is a major error in the latest edition of the PAW. The article “Looking to Lead: Ten years after a campus report, are undergraduate women seeking top roles?” states: “There are anecdotal signs of progress. In 2011, a woman was elected president of an eating club for the first time.”

That factoid? It’s wrong. At least one elected eating club woman president took office in 1995. She was elected by the members of DEC, the great Dial Elm Cannon Club.

And I know this to be true because, well, I am her and she is me. I served as president of the club formerly known as DEC, which is now beloved as Cannon (if you need a second source, check out the faceboard up on the second floor — I’m the one in the middle with the “Rachel”). 

Cheers to women presidents of eating clubs!

Editor’s note: Helen Graves ’81 and Joe Falencki ’04 also wrote to correct this error. In 2011, Ivy Club elected its first woman president, but at least seven eating clubs had women presidents prior to 2011. The article has been updated, and a correction will appear in the April 2021 print issue.