Beyond its func­tion as an aca­d­e­mic club and a link between the under­grad­u­ates and the math depart­ment, the Math Club is also a social club. It orga­nizes a vari­ety of activ­i­ties through­out the year so that you can get to bet­ter know the math depart­ment, and meet other under­grads inter­ested in math.

Here are some of the activ­i­ties we have had through­out the years (and some that we are plan­ning for the upcom­ing semesters).

Board Game Night [Show]Board Game Night [Hide]
On Fri­days, approx­i­mately twice a month, the Math Club gets together in the Fine Com­mon Room to play Board Games. Don’t like Board Games? Not a prob­lem! We also play Cha­rades, Taboo, Apples to Apples, Banana­grams and many more. The Math Club has a pretty exten­sive col­lec­tion of games, includ­ing Domin­ion, Set­tlers of Cataan, Set, cards, domi­noes, Abalone, and oth­ers. We usu­ally have snacks, and gen­er­ally hang out and get to take a break from the oth­er­wise impossible-to-handle rig­ors of Prince­ton life. It can be loads of fun even if you don’t play and (Board) Game Night is one of the tra­di­tions that has for a long time remained a Math Club favorite.

Meet Your Pro­fes­sor Lunches and Din­ners [Show]Meet Your Pro­fes­sor Lunches and Din­ners [Hide]
Once in a while, we orga­nize a meal with one of the math pro­fes­sors. We send out a cal­en­dar, allow­ing you to sign up for slots. Approx­i­mately six stu­dents go to either lunch or din­ner (based on the professor’s sched­ule) in one of the res­i­den­tial col­leges’ pri­vate din­ing rooms. The idea is to get to know a pro­fes­sor in a more casual set­ting, out­side of class. It’s very fun and very casual, and allows you to really talk to the pro­fes­sors who are study­ing some­thing inter­est­ing to you, or whom you merely want to get to know better.

Movie Night [Show]Movie Night [Hide]
In the past, Math Club has had movie nights. We plan to revive this tra­di­tion in the upcom­ing years, and are totally open to sug­ges­tions! As of right now, the plan is to watch movies that are some­what related to math, such as (but not at all lim­ited to) Good Will Hunt­ing and A Beau­ti­ful Mind. How­ever, we’ll see how it’s going and may expand to other areas or other nerdy favorites. In any case, there will prob­a­bly be food, and it would be a good oppor­tu­nity to relax and hang out with other Math Club members.

Pi Day [Show]Pi Day [Hide]
No self-respecting Math Club mem­ber could miss Pi Day. That would be blas­phe­mous, would it not? Pi Day is the height of hol­i­day spirit and should be seen as such. Also, it comes at a very busy time, a time when every­one needs com­fort, and what is more com­fort­ing than a math­e­mat­i­cal con­stant? Oh, I know! A sweet dessert of the same name! Jokes aside, we do very seri­ously cel­e­brate Pi Day. And the best way to cel­e­brate Pi Day is with lots of pi(e). We have a pie eat­ing con­test, as well as pie for observers, and we talk about the best meth­ods for remem­ber­ing dig­its of pi. We also see who can remem­ber the most, and (like most math club events) just chill. It’s loads of fun, and it’s good to give credit where it’s due. After all, where would we be with­out pi(e)?

Math Depart­ment Ban­quet [Show]Math Depart­ment Ban­quet [Hide]
At the end of the year the Math Club gets together in the beau­ti­ful professor’s lounge, on the top floor of Fine. We have a ban­quet with deli­cious food and an absolutely gor­geous view. We play games like Math Cha­rades and Who-Can-Name-the-Largest-Real-Number, filled with lots of other nerdy good­ness. And we get to hang out and reflect on a year well-spent. It’s always fun, and it hap­pens dur­ing read­ing period, so you get to relax and stop think­ing about finals, if even for a minute.

Con­tact: The best thing about Math Club, how­ever, is its amaz­ing flex­i­bil­ity. We’re always look­ing for new ideas and new ways to spice up our social events. So stay on the look-out for more fun things to come! Also, if you have any ideas for social events, any ques­tions, woes, prob­lems, com­plaints, or any­thing at all that you might want to say to me, feel free to email the con­tact below.

Valya Bar­boy ‘15 (vbarboy[at]princeton[dot]edu)