[bruinaphi]

Like Christin said, most House Mothers are professional property managers now who serve much more of a business purpose than they did in the past.

With respect to House Mothers teaching table manners and having bridge get togethers, we all knew our table manners before moving into our house. She was seated first after grace, we filled the center table (which the HM sat at the head of) first, and all food was passed to her first and counterclockwise from her. If you were late to dinner or you had to leave early you asked her permission to be excused for your tardiness or early departure.

Our HMs had monthly get toghethers, sometimes they played bridge, other times they had holiday parties. They went walking together in the mornings or afternoons and relied on one another for referrals and recommendations of local suppliers/vendors and the like.

Do I think it's sexist for men to have houses when women don't? I guess that depends upon the situation. Running a sorority house is generally much more expensive than running a fraternity house. In general I don't think most NPC groups are in the housing business. Having really expensive houses can be a financial drain on chapters and can be prohibitive when it comes to expansion. We are seeing situations where there are not housing options available and systems need to expand more and more these days. University Housing offers a nice option for systems where there is recognition of greek groups and it also levels the playing field.