What was the name of the Princeton club that F. Scott Fitzgerald was a member of?

F. Scott Fitzgerald was a member of Princeton University’s University Cottage Club.

University Cottage Club, commonly called Cottage Club, is one of Princeton’s historic eating clubs. Fitzgerald joined the club during his undergraduate years and drew heavily on his Princeton experiences when writing his first novel, This Side of Paradise, published in 1920.

The club began in the 1880s when Princeton students organized a private dining group. It later developed into one of the university’s selective “bicker” clubs and became associated with the social world of Princeton’s upper-class students. Its clubhouse on Prospect Avenue was completed in 1906 and designed by the prominent architectural firm McKim, Mead & White.

A common mix-up is to choose Tiger Inn, Cap and Gown Club, or Ivy Club because they are also famous Princeton eating clubs. Fitzgerald’s documented association, however, was with Cottage Club. He left Princeton without earning a degree, later using the university’s people, customs, and social setting as important material for his fiction.