Cloister Inn is one of the undergraduate eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.
Founded in 1912, Cloister occupies a neo-Gothic building on Prospect Avenue, between Cap and Gown Club and Charter Club. Cloister closed temporarily in 1972, becoming open to all Princeton alumni, before reopening as an undergraduate club in 1977. The club is "sign-in", meaning that it selects its members from a lottery process rather than the bicker process used by several of the eating clubs. Cloister typically attracts an athletic crowd and its members often include a number of Olympians. The official motto of the club is “Where everybody knows your name”.
Cloister Inn was founded in 1912. The present building was constructed in 1924.
Cloister received mention in Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's 2004 bestselling novel The Rule of Four. Caldwell, a 1998 graduate of Princeton, was a member of Cloister.
Robert Briskman '54, co-founder of Sirius Satellite Radio and Technical Executive of Sirius XM Radio
Tad Smith '87, chief executive of Sotheby's
Literature and the arts
Craig Mazin '92, screenwriter and director
Ian Caldwell '98, co-author of the bestselling novel The Rule of Four, which was set at Princeton and includes several scenes that take place at Cloister
Nicholas Confessore '98, political correspondent for The New York Times
Politics, government, and public affairs
Anne-Marie Slaughter '80, president and CEO of the New America Foundation and former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department
Eliot Spitzer '81, former New York governor
Elena Kagan '81, United States Supreme Court justice
Nan Hayworth '81, former U.S. Representative for New York's 19th congressional district
Chris Lu '88, United States Deputy Secretary of Labor
Nuala O'Connor '89, current president of the Center for Democracy and Technology and inaugural Chief Privacy Officer for the US Department of Homeland Security
Charles W. Yost '28, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, Syria, Morocco, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Frank Anger '61, member of the United States team in Fencing at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1962
Derek Bouchard-Hall '92, former professional cyclist, competitor in the men's team pursuit in Cycling at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and current CEO and president of USA Cycling
Danika Holbrook '95, competitor for the United States in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's quadruple sculls
Morgan Crooks '98, competitor for Canada in Rowing at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Chris Ahrens '98, gold medalist in the Men's Eights event in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Thomas Herschmiller '01, silver medalist for Canada in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Paul Teti '01, three-time member of the United States Olympic rowing team
Lia Pernell '03, competitor for the United States in Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Juan Pablo Valdivieso '04, two-time member of Peru's Olympic swimming team
Samuel Loch '06, Australian rower who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics
Steven Coppola '06, bronze medalist for the United States in Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's eight
Caroline Lind '06, two-time Olympic gold medalist for the United States in Women's rowing
Genevra Stone '07, six-time winner of the women's championship singles event at Head of the Charles Regatta and competitor for the United States in Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's single sculls
Glenn Ochal '08, bronze medalist for the United States in Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's coxless four
Douglas Lennox-Silva '09, swimmer who represented Puerto Rico in the 2008 Summer Olympics
Grant Wentworth '09, record holder in open water swimming for the solo swim from Cape Cod to Nantucket
Sara Hendershot '10, representative of the United States in Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Robin Prendes '11, representative of the United States in Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's coxless four
Bryan Tay '12, Singapore's sole representative in men's Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Susie Scanlan '14, American epee fencer who won a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics
