Dinner for 10:

This series encourages dynamic and meaningful interactions amongst our graduate students of color and Princeton’s world renowned faculty and staff. At least twice per semester, BGC members are invited to enter the lottery for one of the nine available seats at the dinner. Those selected enjoy a complementary five-star dinner at one of Princeton’s most celebrated restaurants, where they are afforded an opportunity to converse with the selected faculty member in an intimate setting. Dinner table conversations have been known to cover anything from how to navigate the academic job search as a person of color to how best to prepare a free range chicken!

Community:

There are a variety of ways in which the BGC contributes to the community. There is a co-sponsored tutor program with students from schools in the surrounding area. We cosponsor events with LGSA in order to encourage undergraduates to consider what graduate school has to offer and give advice on applying to graduate school. The members are also encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to receive funds in order to attend conferences that address topics of relevance to the black community.

Black Grad-Vity:

Black Grad-Vity (n): A fundamental physical force that is responsible for interactions which occur due to the congregation of a mass of African-descended Princetonians (as stars and planets). This lunch series provides a weekly venue for informal interaction amongst graduate students of color and their allies. Although welcome to bring their own meals, attendees are provided with coupons for the purchase of their lunch at the Frist Gallery. Lunch table conversations range from how best to manage the stress of general exams to US foreign policy and homophobia in Hip-Hop.

Social Outings:

We also realize that sometimes after a hard day of research, people would just like to relax and we organize a number of social events to accomplish this goal ranging from a simple evening of bowling or going to a movie to our annual Winter Formal.

We are always open to new ideas and suggestions. Feel free to e-mail bgc@princeton.edu or even plan to join the executive board for the following year.