The Two Dickinson Street Co-op, or 2D, is one of the five student dining co-ops at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. 2D is a 50-member

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

(and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

-friendly)

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

located across the street from the Princeton University campus. 2D is an alternative to the eating clubs, which constitute the most commonly selected eating option for upperclassmen at

. Unusual for independent dining co-ops, it is based in university-managed housing.College Prowler Guidebook - Chapter on Student Housing
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About

The co-op uses

consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on e ...

processes and collective self-governance; teams of members alternate cooking dinner each night, and often prepare and eat informal lunches and breakfasts at the co-op. Each member pays dues, cooks at least once a week, participates in a cleaning schedule, and has a chore. Chores range from bread baking to treasurer to dishrag washer. Members join for a variety of reasons, including a commitment to eating vegetarian or vegan food, cost, political or religious beliefs, and a lively social community. The building is officially a university-owned dormitory subject to university housing restrictions and fees, but most members of the club choose to live in 2D in order to participate in the dining co-op. All residents are given the opportunity to join the co-op and the remaining members are chosen through a lottery. Approximately half of the members of the co-op actually live in the house, while the other half live either on campus or elsewhere.

History

2D was founded in 1977-1978 as a result of two years of student activism demanding an alternative to the eating clubs.

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a Secularit ...

, a noted controversial philosopher at Princeton in favour of animal rights, was invited to eat at 2D on two occasions. In 1999, a group of 2D alumni founded Boston Community Cooperatives, a 501(c)(3) organization that owns and operates a group equity model of communally owned, democratically controlled and affordable residential housing cooperatives, similar to the NASCO model of cooperative ownership.

Former members

Women's ice hockey legend Patty Kazmaier-Sandt joined the coop as a sophomore in 1982, and remained in the coop through her senior year. Spelling bee champion Rebecca Sealfon was also a member of 2D. Josue Lajeunesse, former custodian at 2D (currently custodian at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacific ...

, Princeton University), was one of the main subjects of the documentary film ''The Philosopher Kings'', and is an active humanitarian working to make clean water accessible to his village of Lasource, Haiti. Mathematician Harald Helfgott was a member while completing his Ph.D. at Princeton.

In fiction

Although the author was not a member of the co-op, 2D figures prominently in the mystery/thriller novel ''The Muse Asylum'' by David Czuchlewski.Czuchlewski, David, The Muse Asylum, 2001.

About

History

Former members

In fiction

References

Further reading