[astroAPhi]

My chapter didn't have a house when I initially joined, and the other sorority on campus only had an apartment that they used as their chapter room. We were on a small campus (max chapter size was 40, and neither chapter reached that level until my senior year). However, I don't think we ever had a problem getting to know our sisters. We had regular meetings and mixers and that gave the girls enough opportunities to get to know everyone. Greek life on our campus was very tight-knit in general.

When we did get a house my junior year, it did lead to a lot of growth in the chapter. A third sorority (local) started around that time, and sorority life on campus went nuts.

However, owning a house was a lot of responsibility. It was a big financial responsibility, and it was only big enough for 6 girls. In a lot of ways, I'm not sure it was worth it. It was nice to have a place to store all of our ritual equipment and have a central meeting place, but it wasn't really big enough either. It was also difficult for girls without cars to get to it (it was an off campus house).

I'm hoping my alma mater goes through on their promises of a Greek Row, with townhouse-style homes for the fraternities and sororities. I think it would be a lot easier to have dorm-style living and have the university be responsible for the structures. The girls were mostly upset about having a non-member RA, but I think the university could probably assign a main resident director to all of greek life (and maybe it could be someone who is greek).