The keystone to the recent architectural development of the campus was the $410 million "Campaign for Princeton." Drawing on the recommendations of the Committee on Undergraduate Residential Life, or CURL, the University used this campaign to establish five residential colleges for underclassmen: the existing Wilson and Princeton Inn (later Forbes) Colleges and the new Rockefeller, Mathey, and Butler Colleges. Rockefeller and Mathey carved out of the Collegiate Gothic dorms and dining halls centered around Madison/Commons complex.

The core of Butler College, meanwhile, was the dormitories comprising New New Quad. With Wilcox Hall, the dining facility of Wilson College, already at capacity, it was clear that Princeton needed to build a new dining and social facility for Butler College.