Chapter House in the summer
 

Just curious.... What do you do with your chapter house over the summer term? Do you keep it open for sisters who are attending a summer session? Rent out space to other students? (Some of the fraternities on my old campus did this routinely.) Or keep it empty for the duration?

I know at Southern Methodist University, the houses are rented out by the school for different things going on during the summer.

The summer was when we did whatever upkeep and repairs needed to be made- so installing new carpeting, painting, etc. I don't think staying in the house for the summer was an option for us.

some of the Ohio State sororities and fraternities would keep their houses open for the summer and would rent out rooms to anyone (not just members). They would make the renters abide by the houserules- such as no boys in the rooms past a certain time, etc.

Granted this was 20 years ago, so I am not sure who much has changed.

Ours was always closed for summer, winter and spring breaks.

^^^What she said. Our house at OSU was open during the summer to any female that wanted to live their. I shared a room with another Alpha Gam; across the hall were an Alpha Phi and an AEPhi. We had an absolute blast that summer.

We did make the "tenants" abide by the rule. One girl was asked to leave because she and her boyfriend du jour were busted. Ok, so this was 25 years ago.

It sounds like both the Alpha Phi and AEPhi houses were closed during the summer. If so, did certain chapters elect to to be open during the summer while others did not? Was it based on numbers? Say for example, X number of members were enrolled in summer school and needed a place to stay so the chapter house would remain open? Or was there some sort of rotation where ABC would be open one year while XYZ the next?

ETA: One more thing. Did the "tenants" have to be enrolled students? Would it be possible for a chapter member to rent a room for the summer yet not be enrolled? Or any other "non" student as the case may be?

I think the tennants had to be students-- I know my friend that lived in the D Phi E house for the summer was taking summer classes at Ohio State, but was actually a student at Kent State during the regular school year.

Oh, and at least at the D Phi E house, the girls were all allowed to sleep in the actual rooms, rather than on the sleeping porch.

All the sororities close here for the summer, many of them do maintenance and I wouldn't be surprised if it is also cost saving in regards to utilities, insurance, house director salaries, and so on. The fraternities are a mix, and Sigma Chi has apartments that many sorority women rent and share. I know of one fraternity at Wazzu that closed in the summer and wouldn't let members leave their personal property there. I can see why they made that choice as they wouldn't be responsible for damage or theft. There's also lots of subletting of apartments and campus is easy to get to even without a car.

It could be interesting if sororities did a rotating schedule of being open so women would have a place to live but work could still be done.

The insurance for the NPC groups mandate that only members live in...at any time. Opening during the summer for us is a House Corporation decision, not a chapter one as the chapter rents the house from HC only for the formal school year in most places.

Just a note, this usually only applies if your house is under a housing corporation. Not all are. If it's a private landlord he can rent to whomever he wants.

There was no formal rotation. House Associations decided on their own whether they would be open and most often it was to bring in extra money. We didn't have air conditioning so utilities were very low for the HA.

Our housing association required that someone in charge (like a house mother). Typically for us, it was an Alpha Gam senior or grad student.
Tenants did not have to be students, but most were. Your lease was only 3 months. Since Columbus was the state capital, many students from other schools rented rooms for summer internships.

The summer I lived there and the summer my sister-in-law lived there we were the only sorority house open. I remember 3 fraternity houses being open and one was co-ed that summer. I knew a girl that lived in the co-ed house and she said it was awful and dirty. She tried to break her lease so that she could move in our house but was unable.

Same.

Oh, now I know what school you're from. Makes tons of sense. I know a few of your brothers.

Oh yeah? Woo hoo