Housing
 

What if you don't want to live in the chapter house? What can you do?

I assume:
Check your local/national bi-laws. KD has national policy and the chapter can add on so I assume it is different at each school/chapter.

I guess if you have to, you have to? I wish we had a house when I was in school, I would have been so excited to live in-house!

Unless their is a personal issue/medical, I think you pretty much have to.

Personally, I cannot wait to live in my house nestx year with my sisters for the first time - i think it's going to be a blast! However, a friend of mine had this problem this year. She's a junior and a member of DG and her chapter requires them to not so much live in the house a year - b/c I'm pretty sure that's personal preference - but that had to pay in house dues, ie: room and board. She had nooo desire to live in her house as much as she loves her sisters, so what she did was live in an apartment, pay rent for that, AND she paid to live in the house, while not actually living there. Now that's all fine and dandy if you can afford that, but let's get real, who can? I don't think your chapter can force you to live in your house, i think that rule is mostly in effect so that the house is fully occupied and there is enough money to run things smoothly.

In our chapter, it was specifically stated in the constitution of the chapter that you had to live in the house for one year, and if you were a member of the leadership team, there was no waiver of that clause. Now if the house was full, and you hadn't yet lived there, you weren't forced to. The point of this was to make sure our house was full and therefore, we were able to keep it.

In my chapter, we usually have a waiting list for girls who want to move in! All members of the executive must live in the house. Then, we open rooms to the girls that request it based on a point system (seniors receive more points and sisters who have a position a committee also receive more points). If we have a shortage of girls who want to move in, we then have to draft them based on a point system. Girls with the lowest points are moved in. Living in the house gets you more involved. I lived there for 2 weeks before recruitment last fall when my apartment was not ready yet. Honestly, it was the best two weeks! A lot of fun. The only reason I didn't move in this year is because I like having quiet time; quiet time is rare in a sorority house. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Well, our house is actually a University-owned dorm (we have our own kitchen, lounges, bathrooms, and whatnot. So, it would be just like living in a dorm. I did not live in the house last year because I was a Resident Counselor in the freshman dorms, and I'm not going to be here Spring Semester, because I'm going to Italy. I'm definitely living in-house Senior year.

Here's the catch. I signed up to live with my friends (not sisters, friends) after I found out that I wasn't going to England for the fall. This was also after we had reached housing cap for the year, so there was not any space. It turns out that someone in the house is taking a leave, so there's a vacancy. I am living with some of my best friends in a suite, which I prefer to a single (even in the House). I really don't want to back out on my friends, but I hate to let my sisters down. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

AlphaChiGirl -

Is the person on leave going to be gone for a semester or a year? If they are going to be gone for a year, it would be wiser of the chapter to find someone else to move in for a whole year or they will have to deal with "who's moving in" again in spring.

Is the suite university-owned also, or is it a privately-owned thing? If it's privately owned you may not be able to get out of your lease at this point.

OK, well we have had this happen as well. If you are in a signed lease, we will normally make an exception for that. There is always someone who can break a lease or such and live in the house. Why doesn't the girl who is leaving a vacancy be responsible for filling her spot? Sort of like sublet.

Our chapter required only exec's to live in-house. It was cheaper than the dorms, which you had to live in for 2 years, so we ended up with a waiting list.
I never lived in, and I think you miss out on a lot. It's tough to live with 50 girls, but well worth the rewards.. you might want to re-think it.

Our house isn't official so it is pretty much up to you to whether or not you want to live there. Its nice b/c you always have that option, but you don't have to use it. We also don't have the rules that we would have if the house was official (drinking, guys, guest etc...)I like the way our house is set up like that

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Katey, ZA chapter of AGD
"Could I have been anyone other than me?"-Dave Matthews

The sorority "house" is university-owned, meaning it is a dorm, just like the one I will be living in with my best friends. So, it will be the same amount of money. I already signed a housing contract for the suite, and my friends are counting on me to live there (they've already had 2 people back out on the contract for similar reasons).

The basic truth is, I don't want to live in-house. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif In this case, I feel like the rewards of living with my friends for this semester will exceed the rewards of living in-house.

Is it that big of a deal if there's a hole in your house? You might want to find that out. Right now, our house will have 2 spots in it at the beginning of the semester due to people transferring and taking RA positions, but we usually don't see that as a problem. The same thing happened last year and some of the new members ended up moving in part of the way through the semester because of roommate issues and mice problems in the dorms. I'd talk to whoever's doing the housing arrangements for next year and tell them that two people have already backed out of your suite and you wouldn't want to ditch your friends. Maybe it won't be a problem if a room is open since someone else might want to move in later.



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Alpha Chi Omega - Why reach for the top when you're already there?

I go to a small school down south and all the sorority houses are on campus---kind of like small scale private dorms...we have ahuge kitchen, living room, dorm style bathrooms and 20 rooms.....2 girls to a room. Our in house numbers kinda go up and down....we allow our seniors to move out ( they usually want to with internships and demanding classes, these things dont mix well in house with 40 fun-loving girls) We "strongly encourage" all our new members to move in unless they live at home......
Ive lived in the house my whole 4 out of 5 semesters....once i had an apartment...and i would have to say that living in the house is the best. You always know what up, who is where, youre never lonely or bored....it cant be beat!

I know the feeling, as we had the first house in Pittsburg Kansas to have electricity.
I has been a grand Old Dame' but after 30 years of guys going through year and tearing it up no one wants to live there now!
we are in the process of trying to build a new house and we have discussed building of concrete so the morons could not tear up!

A House is and should be the centerr point of you organization as you can always go there to find a Bro/Sis to be with. You go to the dorm u do not know what you will find!
While a house is not necessary, you must have a central focul point that you can retreat to when you need. to and be with freinds!

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Tom Earp LX Z#1
Pittsburg State U. (Kansas)

Well, the situation has been rectified, after some nastiness and a lot of consulting my school's Residential Life and Greek Life offices. Basically, it turned out that my sisters did not "understand" my situation, and were just thinking that I did not want to live in the house. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif After I had to personally explain it to a few of them, they understood, but I'm sure there are going to be some hard feelings. Oh well. I was dedicated and committed to the house last year, and I can be this semester.

Bottom line: just because you don't live in the house (ahem, dorm), it doesn't mean that you aren't dedicated to the sorority. I know that I'm just as active, if not more than, some of the in-house members.