Columbia fills GLO houses with non-members

[hoosier]

Frat Row: Not Just For Bros

By Sadia Latifi
Columbia Daily Spectator
October 06, 2005

It was two weeks before classes started when Eric Larson, SEAS ’08, learned of his new home for the year: 531 113th St., better known as the house of Zeta Psi.

And he never even had to rush.

Larson was notified of his placement after a summer of being waitlisted by Columbia housing. It was not until he conducted an internet search of the address that he discovered that the unidentified building was actually a Greek brownstone.

“I started really freaking out,” he said, when he came across the information on the Zeta Psi Web site.

Larson is one of 10 undergraduate students, the majority of whom are sophomores, who were placed in Greek housing this year after not receiving rooms during the spring lottery. Five organizations, including three fraternities, are housing the students, including Zeta Psi, Sigma Nu, Psi Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, and the Intercultural House.

While the students were surprised by their placement, they have all decided to stay and some have agreed to pledge in the spring.

“Last year, I did my best to stay away from Greek life,” Larson said. “Now, my perception is totally changed. Everybody here is really nice—I’ve made friends with everybody in the house. They’re not bad people. Frats unfairly get a bad rap.”

According to the administration, the students ended up in the brownstones because Columbia ran out of other housing this year.

“It’s a last resort for us. It can be an uncomfortable situation,” said housing director Herman Matte. But according to Matte, his office had no choice, because there was simply no other housing available.

Roommates Andrew Kim, SEAS ’08, and John Wihtol, CC ’08, who are currently living with Larson in the Zeta Psi house, said they were surprised when they found out about their placement.

After a summer hoping to find a vacancy in McBain, the Carman buddies received notification of their address, but assumed they had been assigned to Nussbaum, also on 113th Street. They were relieved because, according to Kim, they had heard good things about the dorm.

It was only on move-in day that the students realized they were going to be boarders at the Zeta Psi house.

“I thought it was kind of lame,” Kim said. “How the hell could Columbia put us in a frat?”

Under the jurisdiction of Columbia housing, Greek organizations are given multiple opportunities to fill their houses on their own during the year, Matte said. But when that doesn’t happen, the department is obligated to give the empty spaces to students who have no other place to live in the fall.

“We operate at 100 percent capacity, so every bed must be filled. We want fraternities to fill their own beds,” Matte said. He said boarders in Greek housing are a fairly common occurrence.

Last year, Zeta Psi couldn’t meet its quota after some members dropped out, and housing converted two single rooms into doubles. Sixteen men now occupy the house, including four non-brothers.

According to Adam Aviv, SEAS ’07 and vice president of Zeta Psi, the high number of vacancies this year results from the fact that the fraternity has a large number of seniors. It is customary for brothers to live in the house only for their sophomore and junior years.

Residents placed in the frats said that relations between members and non-members at the house have been largely positive.

“These dudes are cool,” Aviv said. “If you make the effort to say hello, we’re not going to ostracize you.”

Chris Baratta, CC ’08 and member of Zeta Psi, agreed. “We’re all friends with them. We have been including them in events and trying to make them feel like they fit in,” he said.

“They were all really nice and understanding. They know our situation,” Wihtol said. But he also noted that he and Kim have had only limited interaction with the rest of the brothers.

“It’s pretty chill, but it’s on a ‘what’s up?’ basis. They’re all good guys, but ... we’re not down there playing whatever at night,” Kim added.

Despite complaining about high noise levels, small bathrooms, and the absence of females, none of the 10 boarders placed in the fraternities have opted to fill out a transfer request, though rooms are now available in other dorms on campus. Housing demand decreases as the semester progresses because of transfers and dropouts, and all of the students now have the option. Larson said he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of moving.

“I wanted to focus on studying and not playing musical rooms,” he said.

The perks of living in the frat house also outweighed any short-term frustrations, according to Wihtol. He said the best part is the room itself, which is much larger than most dorm rooms. Journee Isip, CC ’08, who is living in Psi Upsilon, agreed.

“The room was kind of left in shambles when the last guy left, but after some repairs and cleanup, it turned out pretty nice,” he said.

The brothers of Zeta Psi have casually mentioned the option of lodgers pledging to the fraternity, and Larson has agreed to pledge in the spring, after a complete turnaround in his opinion of Greek life.

The sole boarder at the Sigma Nu house, a sophomore, is also planning on pledging, according to Jason Allegrante, CC ’07, a brother in the house .

But the rest of the boarders at Zeta Psi haven’t been converted.

“It doesn’t make sense to join a frat when you’re living in New York City,” Kim said. “It’s a good place to get beer, but I wouldn’t want to join it.”