Indepedent room mate on a GLO hall?

[SSmith15]

Have any of you been in this situation? If so, did you have "casual silence" at your school? How does that work? I've never had a room mate on our hall - much less an independent one. Any ideas? Guess enrollment just went up alot this year...

[LuvUTrulyKKG]

I was the independent roommate on the Kappa hall... then I became a Kappa! My roommate who was a Kappa didn't discuss recruitment issues with me, but we have deferred recruitment so the situation may be different for you. I accepted my bid from Kappa before formal recruitment started, but had I gone through formal, I would have had to only speak to her in our room about non-recruitment/non-kappa topics. She also was going to spend the night after Pref Tea in a different room or I was going to stay with non-Greek friends... but it never came to that!

[Tom Earp]

Did this person asked to be placed there? Probably not.

Why casual silence? Just let her know that that there are certain times and places that need to be used at certain times. Be nice as she maybe come a new member.

[SSmith15]

Thanks for the replies! No, I am sure she didn't request to be on a sorority hall, and probably doesn't even realize that she is going to be living on one. Casual silence what Panhellenic atmy school enforces...but I'm sure that we can still talk about "roommate things." I'll have to get reinformed about the rules regarding "hanging out" on campus with nongreek women before rush though. Last year I know it was strictly forbidden to be seen with any non greek woman after school started until after Bid Day. Thanks for all of the encouragement Hopefully it's going to be a great year.

[mu_agd]

my roomate wasn't in a sorority and we lived in our pseudo-hall. we wanted to live together. we wanted to be in a certain quad, which was where our hall was, and we would be able to choose our room instead of going into the lottery. it was never an issue that she wasn't in a sorority and there were actually a few people in the hallway that weren't in sororities.

[winneythepooh7]

One of my roommates wasn't in a sorority but was extremely close with a bunch of us. She felt that she didn't need to be in our org because she already was extremely tight with us. At certain times it was awkward when it was all sisters that came over but everyone always made a special effort to include her. One of my close friend's now actually lived with all AEPhi girls in Albany. She felt the same way. In both instances, the girls made friends with the sisters and/or knew them beforehand so they were more comfortable staying there then going to a non-Greek residence.

[honeychile]

We had this happen a few times, but it was always someone we knew prior to her moving in - and all but one ended up becoming an ADPi. We just did ritual at the far other side, or when we knew she was going home for the weekend.

[carnation]

This used to happen frequently at Auburn-- for most sororities, the second floor of a dorm was their official floor but some dorms had so many rooms that Housing would put the overflow of independents in with Greeks. How it worked out depended on the independents you had. Often the independents would grow close to the Greeks and rush the next year, often ending up in their dorm's sorority--IF that sorority took non-freshmen.

[sairose]

This happens at ASU. And yes, they don't choose to be there really because sororities are given preference to live in their wing. I did have a friend who lived on the AOII wing one year, and she said it okay because there were a few other non-Greeks too, so she didn't feel so out of place.

[LionTamer]

My freshman year I was on the ZTA floor - ZTA was really tiny at Penn State back then (I think they've grown a lot). It was such a good experience that we opted to stay on the same floor the next year, and went through rush (mostly sophomores rushed at the time).

These girls were really delightful to us the whole two years, and they handled the "no talking to rushees" stuff very maturely when we all went through rush the next year - that is, they "violated rush rules" by saying "hi" and behaving normally when they saw us in the bathroom, but they avoided the subject of rush. When they had some rituals going on, they let us know so there were no misunderstandings. A little kindness, maturity and thoughtfulness goes a long way when you have a group living with folks who aren't in the group.

[The B Girl]

What is casual silence mean? I'm not familar with the term.

[PennyCarter]

This just made me think of my roommates. We didn't have greek dorms or anything, but my roommates were not Greek and they were my BEST friends! At our school, we weren't allowed to hang out with ANY non-greek women from orientation until after bid day.

I completely understand the necessity in such rules..you have to draw the line somewhere. And yeah, it was only a couple of weeks, but it was sooooo hard! I worked in the Student Life office (and so did my roommate) and we begged to have her sign a wavier saying she would never pledge (there was no hope ), and our Greek advisor just laughed at us.

The hardest part was that I was the recruitment chair and I would be exhausted after such long days at the house. I just needed to go grab a late night snack or whatever and we couldn't! Oh sigh!!! It was tough!

I really do understand the rules, but I wish there was a middle ground!!! She was never going greek..and if she did, all her friends were already ADPi's!!!