The choice: live in the house or depledge

[hoosier]

Sorority members bemoan being 'pulled in' to house

By Tina Peng
April 12, 2004

Medill freshman Rachael Harlan and her roommate planned to live on North Campus next year, but hours after receiving their housing priority numbers they learned that they would be living together -- just not in the locale they initially had preferred.


The Pi Beta Phi members had been pulled into their sorority house.

According to a poll of Panhellenic Association officials and members, four of Northwestern's 12 sororities conducted random lotteries two weeks ago to determine which members would fill the spaces left vacant in their sorority houses next year.

Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta and Pi Beta Phi all reported a need to require members to live in the sorority house next year. These last-minute changes caused some freshmen pledges to quickly revise their housing plans.

Harlan said she was surprised at the arbitrary nature of her assignment to the house.

"We were pulled in by people picking a name out of a hat," she said. "It was completely out of our control, which isn't something you'd expect from a sorority."

Although she said she wanted to live in her sorority eventually, Harlan said she would have preferred to live elsewhere her sophomore year.

"(My roommate and I) really wanted to live up north," said Harlan, who currently lives in Shepard Residential College. "To get the whole college experience here is to live up north, to live down south, to live off-campus."

Though Harlan said she initially had reservations about being pulled into her house, she now is looking forward to living in her sorority next year.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Harlan said. "But it was just an inconvenience at the time."

The roommate Education freshman Nikki Goldwater's planned to live with next year discovered last Monday that she also had been pulled into the Alpha Phi house, which Goldwater said inconvenienced both women.

"We were going to live together next year," Goldwater said. "We had the room that we wanted picked and everything. Now I'm kind of stuck."

Goldwater -- who now hopes to be assigned a single room -- said her roommate was given the choice to live in the house or depledge her sorority. She said other women presented with this option chose not to live in the house, which Goldwater said probably caused her roommate's late notification.

"There were people (in the sorority) who ended up depledging," she said, "so I think people ended up getting in even later than Monday."

Rachel Erwin, the president of A Phi, said a small pledge class forced her sorority to pull in six girls.

"We've never had to pull anyone in before," she said. "Last year we had to have a lottery for the opposite reason."

Laura Spencer, Panhel vice president for public relations, pointed to the inconsistent nature of pulling in members.

"I don't think there's any general trend," she said. "The situation does vary. Sometimes you're asking people to live in and sometimes you don't have space. It's a supply and demand thing."

Spencer said she thought girls women who were asked to live in were presented with a viable housing option.

"I think it's a very competitive alternative to dorms and off-campus apartments in terms of pricing, and I think it's a really good experience," she said.

[Rudey]

I have absolutely no sympathy.

-Rudey

[adpiucf]

It's important during recruitment to stress that there will be a mandatory year to live-in, as a requirement.

And if women are cancelling memberships to avoid living in the sorority residence, these are not the kind of loyal members your organization needs.

[ASTLuv21]

I can understand the fact that you must live in the sorority house for one year. Although, the sorority should of first asked what sisters already made arrangements to live in the dorms and whether or not they would like to live in the house this coming school year. People who live in the dorms have to tell housing like in January if they will be living in the dorms (at least on my campus they do). Sororities should have to figure out who's filling the spaces sooner (I'm sure sisters know if they moving out or not in the beginning of the year).

[texas*princess]

I really don't understand some members not wanting to fulfill their one-year obligation to live in the house. It is SO MUCH FUN and you are pretty much there for everything when it happens... it's one of those things that is hard to explain I guess.

As property manager for my chapter, it completely boggled my mind why some members didn't want to fulfill their obligation -- ESPECIALLY because we will have a beautiful brand new house with brand new everything inside it.

I really don't get it... especially if they are moving right out of the dorms like I did.... I guess it just makes more sense to me for members to move out of the dorms with little or no furniture as opposed to getting an apartment, and fully furnishing the apartment and then having to sell or put all the furniture in storage for the year that the member has to live in the house.

Personally, I am glad the sororities did what they had to do in order to keep the house full. Having a house is a HUGE part of a chapter's finances, so when there are open spots, the chapter is losing money because no matter if the house is full or not, all that money needs to be paid out.

ETA: I also think that if the chapters who did this had older members who hadn't fulfilled their one-year obligation, they should have been first in the "lottery" as opposed to the new members.

[AchtungBaby80]

New members should know about any amount of time they are required to live in-house. It does sort of smack of poor planning, though, that they weren't notified of this until they had already made other arrangements.

[aephi alum]

If there is an obligation to live in-house for a certain period of time, or the possibility of being pulled in to fill the house, potential new members should be informed so that they can factor that into their decision process.

One sorority at my school has a large enough house that it's pretty much a given that you will be living in the house during your sophomore, junior, and senior years if you join. You don't like it - don't join.

Another sorority (with a smaller house) handled the question of filling their house in an interesting way. Certain officers had to live in-house. The remaining beds were offered first to seniors, then juniors, then sophomores (freshmen must live in the dorms). If any spots were still unfilled, no one was forced to live in, but all sisters who were eligible to live in but had turned down a bed had to split the rental for the empty spots. That way, the chapter still got its revenue without forcing people to break other housing contracts or arrangements.

[honeychile]

I must admit, I find it hard to believe that four houses had neglected to notify their new members of their obligation to live in the house. In all the years I've been involved in sorority & Panhel, I've yet to hear of a chapter that didn't have that clause. I'd be interested in seeing the New Member literature for each of these houses, and would be willing to bet that the clause is there, but maybe not emphasized enough.

[fire1977]

I agree with Honey 100%!

Always read what you sign! Outside of the sorority my university does the same thing - if you are registered for on campus housing and your suite is not full they will pull you out and put you in the suite!

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by fire1977
I agree with Honey 100%!

Always read what you sign! Outside of the sorority my university does the same thing - if you are registered for on campus housing and your suite is not full they will pull you out and put you in the suite!

Hi C; nice to see you around here again!
I'm not sure I understand what you said in your post? You mean if the DPhiE suite wasn't full and you had already chosen a room in Holland or wherever, you could just be forced to give that up and move into the suite? If that is true, who is the one that makes you move; the university or the sorority?

That's pretty screwed up; but then again, Pitt housing has *always* been pretty screwed up!

[Kevin]

This is making news!?

This girl owes the house a year's worth of rent. She agreed to it. She's an adult. If she doesn't want to live there, she'd better damned well pony up the rent. I'm sure her roomates in the sorority house won't mind at all.

[Sister Havana]

At IU all new members are required to live in the houses for at least two years, sometimes all three...at least back then they were. (I am sure exceptions are made for sisters studying abroad, off on internships or student teaching or whatever.) It's made pretty clear during rush...I agree, if you don't like the idea of living in, don't join.

[33girl]

Build a bridge, cry me a river.

The only way I'd have any sympathy for these girls is if they were never informed of their obligations in any way before pledging, which I doubt. This is one area where you (the housing director/housing corp you) have to be a bitch, and if you're not, it can really come back to haunt you big time.

[skerbow]

Grrr...I only wish I had had a house to live in, much less one that required me to fulfill any amount of time. I am so jealous of my chapter now. They have had a house for 2 years and are building a new one to move into this fall. I would have gone willingly.

Think they'll let an alumna move in??? Think the boyfriend will mind living on his own?

[adpiucf]

We had a similiar rule in our chapter. Certain officers had to live-in, which ensured that most of the house was filled. Other officers who had interest got the next priority to live-in, and then among non-officers, we had tie breakers over GPA. In cases where we couldn't fill the house (ironic--- 180 members and only 30 beds!), we would pay to break the lease of a woman's apartment or dorm so she could move in. The ends justified the means in that case.

At another chapter I worked with, they had more beds than members, and it was acknowledged that you lived in for at least one year of membership, usually the year after you joined. If a woman didn't want to live in, she would pay the rent anyway.