Commuter Campuses
 

UH-Manoa is also a predominantly commuter campus, and like Star Turtle said, it's not a big deal to us.

I lived on campus for my first year and I hated it. I've since moved back home and I live the farthest away from campus (about a 20 minute drive). The rest of my sisters either live on campus or have apartments nearby.

We're very grateful to have an administration that encourages our presence on campus. They're very accomodating when it comes to facilities. We normally hold chapter meetings at in a meeting room at the Campus Center. For events like Fireside and Initiation, they're normally held in the spacious and picturesque Faculty Lounge in the Student Services Center.

One of our Delta Sigma alums, Dr. Doris Ching, is the Vice President of Student Affairs. She's very active in the alumnae chapter as well as in Panhellenic of Hawaii and she's very instrumental in promoting more student interest in organizations.

The only house belongs to Kappa Epsilon Theta, a local fraternity based on my campus. The house itself is small, and only a few brothers live there. IMHO, living conditions there aren't very ideal. I've spoken to many of the brothers and they all agree that it's difficult to maintain that house.

Getting a house is ideal, but realistically, I don't think it's going to happen. The cost of living in paradise is terribly expensive, and I know that it would be difficult to purchase a house at this time. Our main priorities now are obtaining quality members and promoting a positive presence on our campus and community.

It's Not So Bad!
 

I also attend a commuter school (Georgia State University), although our administration is taking big steps to turn that around. We're right smack in the middle of downtown Atlanta. We do have dorms though, but they are about 10-15 minutes away from the main campus. Most of us though, we travel to get to school. It takes me about half an hour each day.

Greek Life at GSU is really great. All the councils (IFC, PHC, NPHC and the new MGC) are strong and the administration is very, very supportive of our Greeks and Student Life as a whole. None of the greeks have houses due to space, but there is a floor in our University Center where each chapter (with the exception of MGC) has a suite. They are done up very nicely. So instead of houses, we all comment on how pretty the Phi Mu room is :D It really is one of the nicer suites on the floor.

Actually since I've been here I've seen an IMPROVEMENT of Greek Life at GSU especially among our NPHC groups who were once small, but are growing. I also like that we have a MGC that have groups that appeal to more people. And of course, my service sorority :D ecourages those who like to do a lot of service to also enjoy a sisterhood as well. Sorry, had to plug Gamma Sig! :p

In Service...

Gamma Sigma Sigma Turns Golden...50 Years of Service, Friendship & Equality: 1952-2002

Can't complain!
 

Although the Greek community isn't quite as large as your Division I schools would be, it's home. My school is probably about 70% commuter. We have small dorms and such but most students still come from up to an hour away.

The only house that doesn't have a chapter house on our campus is Pi Kappa Alpha. The administration is aggressively growing and supporting the Greek Community here. We've added 3 new chapters in the last three years... Alpha Xi Delta then Sigma Nu (me!) and most recently the Pikes came to campus. We have 5 fraternities and 4 sororities.

At UCO, no event is even attended unless they get the Greeks involved. We're the only people that aren't completely apathetic. Which has its ups but on the downside it's a small thorn in our side when it comes to recruitment (hard to recruit someone that doesn't know you exist!)

I like it though, everyone knows everyone...

LHT
Kevin Taylor
MT 5
University of Central Oklahoma

I went to a commuter campus and we were the only sorority on campus that had a house. Both of the fraternities had houses but the other sororities did not. It didn't really matter because everyone always held their meetings at 7:00 on Sunday night at school. We liked to have it up at school because it was easy to set up social events.

Our school just recently began building dorms so Greek life in the future should get very interesting.

Have a nice day :)

I can completely understand what you mean. UALR has one dorm, and most students here are 25+ years old. Out of 12k students, only 350-400 are greek. We have 3 NPC, 3 IFC and 5 NPHC orgs. Each has about 35-40 members. All of the NPC and IFC groups have "lodges" not houses, and that makes things interesting. Almost everyone I know lives at home or in an apartment somewhere. Our numbers have dropped off in the past few years in the greek system, partly because most people say "I'll only be here a year..." and don't want to rush. (Though most people stay longer)
Anyone have any ideas for increasing numbers and greek awareness on a commuter campus?

TG

I am not on a fully commuter campus, but 80% of our students do commute. At first I thought it was going to be horrible, but most chapters here have a house of some sort (usually they aren't owned, just rented, so they flip a lot) and Delta Zeta just moved into our presidents old house and we got their old house and it's not far from our "greek row". I hate that we can have recruitment at our own houses and stuff, but it's not too bad!

Only 25% of our student body lives on-campus, plus most of the people who live on-campus live within 30min so they go home every freakin weekend. I know all of the IFC fraternities have off-campus houses, but none of the sororities have houses. All of the Greek orgs usually reserve space in the university center for meetings or in the Science building if they want a big classroom.

out of 10,000 students 3,000 of us live on campus. the school is working to change that however with the construction of new dorms. they are luxury compared to some of the dorms i have seen at other non-commuter schools. we dont have houses which i wish we did sometimes. but we make do just fine for socials and parties and all that stuff. we hold our meetings in one of the lecture halls on sunday nights and rush is done in the university center. it is interesting...but then again the only people who hang around on weekends are greeks and athletes...everyone else misses out!!! ;)

Re: It's Not So Bad!
 

Hey gamma-girl52! GSU is my alma mater! Go Panthers! :D

And I concur that greek life at GSU is great. Although I didn't become a member of a GLO until I graduated from college, there always seemed to be no shortage of activities for NPC, IFC, and NPHC organizations.

I also go to a school that is a commuter campus. The average age of the student is 25 or older. Most students that are 18 year old freshman already know what house they want to join before they come to college so they do not bother going through formal recruitment. I am the Panhellenic President, and I do not know what to do to get number up. All 6 NPC groups have houses, but no one is at total, and no one has been for at least 5 years. We had an NPC consulting team come out 2 years ago, but nothing was accomplished. Also, we have no unity between houses. Everything we do is so cut-throat here that everyone cheats just to get quota. If anyone could help, that would be great. I would be willing to take any suggestions that anyone is willing to give.

commuter schools
 

Well.. my school is I think majority commuter, or at least spread out in apartments right around campus.. we have three girls who come from about a mile and a half away or so. No GLO's on campus have housing. We meet in board rooms and such on campus. We do have a greek system with many different sororities.... we have three NPC nationals... two national pan-Hellenic sororities.... I think three different local multicultural sororities.. and 2 NIC frats and maybe three local frats. That is actually quite a few groups.. but none of us are very big. I think our biggest is the Alpha Gamma Delta chapter with 30 girls. Mine group isnt' far behind with I think 25 girls now (including new members) Reaching quota is hard for us because we aren't supported by the school at all.. we can't send out flyers about rush during the summer or anything... so it's hard. Plus a lot of people don't start out here as freshman... so they think they don't want to pledge or come from the area and don't want to become greek to meet people... so any ideas would be appreciated. =)

Re: Re: It's Not So Bad!
 

I just read this message, SoTrue! Go GSU!! And if I may make a comment about the Zetas here on campus...they are a great group of ladies. One of my sorors went on to pledge Zeta before she graduated.

Greek Life here is getting even better. I should have quoted the person who asked how things can be improved in terms of greek life on commuter campuses. Greeks need to work together and collaborate on programs. My chapter just did a forum last night showcasing the newer greeks on our campus. While we didn't get a great turnout :( it gave us an opportunity to meet one another-and we hope to bring some more fun programs to the campus next fall! Working together is really important, IMO, if you want those students to join. A lot of students here just go to class and go home and are not interested in getting involved. It's all about positive exposure!

I have news for you all........Just about any school of decent size is a commuter school!! UCLA, which has a great Greek system does nothave that many people living on campus or even near it. I do not like the commuter school excuse that people use to explain away why the Greek system is failing, or at least not growing, at their school. The way to get more invovlement at a school and growth among chapter is to work together. If groups backstab each other and can not trust each other enough to get things like Greek Week together, then everyone will see that and will not want to join. College is what you make of it and so is your chapter. Hopefully other SFSU Greeks will see this. PM me and we will talk.