![]() |
U. Maryland Risk Management Issues - Boarders at Greek Houses
After student's death, U. Maryland may create policy for boarding
By Michelle Rothman The Diamondback (U. Maryland) 02/26/2002 (U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The death of University of Maryland student Daniel Reardon has provoked greek life and resident life officials to take a closer look at formulating a policy regarding students kicked out of campus housing who move into university-owned fraternity and sorority houses. Officials are questioning whether sanctions that apply to students in dorms, such as expulsion for possession of marijuana, also apply to those in "university housing," said Pat Mielke, director of resident life. They also want to clarify if fraternity and sorority houses owned by the university are considered on-campus housing. "Are they on-campus land? Yes," Mielke said. "But it is unclear for judicial purposes." Reardon was a boarder in the university-owned Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house at 7 Fraternity Drive since the beginning of the semester. He was expelled from campus housing last semester because of a Sept. 28 arrest for possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia in Wicomico Hall. Reardon was found unconscious in a lounge area of the fraternity house Feb. 8 at about 3:50 a.m. and taken to Washington Adventist hospital. He died Feb. 14 after being removed from life support. Phi Sigma Kappa's international headquarters notified chapter members Saturday the chapter's charter had been revoked. House residents were told they have two weeks to vacate the house. The resident life office, the greek life office and Linda Clement, vice president for student affairs, will meet soon to decide if a policy will be written addressing the issue of students who lost campus housing moving into university-owned fraternity and sorority houses, Mielke said. The details of what the policy could include are unknown. Matt Supple, director of greek life, said one problem with such a policy is it could influence students' decisions to join either university-owned or non-university owned fraternity and sorority chapters. Supple said he was not aware prior to Reardon's death that Reardon had been kicked out of campus housing. There is no policy prohibiting students removed from campus housing from moving into university-owned houses, Mielke said. Supple said he learned last fall another student who had lost campus housing privileges was living in one of the 22 university-owned fraternity and sorority houses. Soon afterward, the greek life office began examining the system of fraternity and sorority housing. Reardon's death put the issue on the resident life office's agenda, Mielke said. "When a student leaves us, we do not track them," she said. Therefore, no data is kept on how many people expelled from campus housing move into fraternity or sorority houses. The university owns 14 houses on Fraternity Drive, seven in the Graham Cracker community and one single-family home off of Princeton Avenue; however, the houses are leased from the university to housing corporations, often run by fraternity or sorority alumni, said Jaquie O'Rourke, facilities coordinator. The housing corporation is responsible for student leases, which are not reviewed by the university. The leases vary among chapters, but many contain specific drug and alcohol policies. Other leases, like that of the Alpha Phi sorority chapter, simply stipulate residents will follow house rules, which can include drug and alcohol policies, said Rachel Lovelady, president of Alpha Phi. However, the lease between the university and the housing corporations requires the tenant agree to hold residents to the University Code of Student Conduct. Under the self-governing rules of the greek system, undergraduate chapter members of the judicial and executive boards are expected to enforce rules. Unlike dorms, fraternity and sorority houses do not have resident assistants. Each house has an adult house director, trained by the university but hired and supervised by the particular housing corporation that leases the house. The housing director usually lives in the house he or she is assigned, but duties and responsibilities vary from house to house, O'Rourke said. "In most cases, I doubt that the person is ever expected to be a policeman," she said. Boarders often are allowed to move into fraternity and sorority houses when chapters cannot fill all the available rooms. Chapters unwilling to allow nonmembers to live in the house raise the rent of members living in the house to compensate for unleased rooms, Supple said. Such chapters usually are concerned with protecting the sanctity of chapter traditions and rituals. "It's a secret society," Supple said. Boarders sometimes are asked to join the fraternity or sorority chapter whose house they are occupying. Reardon accepted an invitation to join Phi Sigma Kappa Feb. 7, the night before he was found unconscious. Other boarders join different chapters or elect not to join the greek system altogether. "I wouldn't be surprised if half or more than half joined the house they are boarding at," Supple said. "I think that it depends entirely on the individual chapter. My guess is that you are going to want to fill your house with people that you like." Using housing as a recruitment tool would be ineffective, Supple said, but on a campus plagued by a housing crunch, boarding is an apt alternative to campus housing. Often, the resident life office refers students looking for housing, especially transfer students, to the greek life office for lists of chapters that are offering available rooms and have notified the greek life office about vacancies. But this notification is optional, so the administration does not record the amount of boarders living in greek houses each semester. "We don't control who lives there," Supple said. "We don't control how much they pay." Supple estimated about 20 students board each semester. The amount tends to increase in the spring, when more students study abroad, leaving vacancies in fraternity and sorority houses. Phi Sigma Kappa chapter President Gary Kaufman said Reardon found the room vacancy through an advertisement in The Diamondback. He declined to say if the chapter was aware Reardon was kicked out of his dorm. Phi Sigma Kappa houses one other boarder. A former boarder in a sorority house, a junior psychology major who wishes to remain anonymous, said her decision to live in the house was a bad one, but she acknowledged she has heard of many enjoyable boarding experiences. "I didn't have a good experience," she said. "I think that if people can find other places to live, it's better." Universities across the nation have different housing policies for fraternity and sorority members. At Pennsylvania State University and University of North Carolina, which have comparable greek systems, fraternity and sorority houses are owned by alumni housing corporations, not the universities themselves. North Carolina's chapters do not accept boarders; Penn State director of fraternity and sorority housing Scott Phelan said the school has "one or two" chapters out of 53 that accept boarders. |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:57 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.