Sleep Porches

[Tex1899]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

How many people sleep in these things?

I mean, we don't have sleeping porches...but several of the houses have rooms with ALOT of people in 'em. Tri-Delt (I believe) has a 9 girl room.

I've seen them primarily in the midwest (old Big 8 schools) where a fraternity is a living option as much as a social one. Capacities ranged from 50's-70's. And you'll probably see the fraternities recruit the same number of men each year +/- 1 or 2 men. Beds need to be filled. And they usually have a good summer rush program.

[banditone]

Seems like the fraternity houses at Indiana (and other Big 10 schools have them). I know the Sigma Nu house at IU houses 70. No way that have that many rooms in that house.

[BigRedBeta]

Yeah, several of the old Big 8 schools definitely have them. At Nebraska they've fallen decidedly out of favor, and I can only think of one sorority that still uses theirs. There might be one or two fraternities that do, but I doubt it.

I've been in open airs at Iowa State (Beta), K-state and Kansas (several different chapters).
When I went to UIFI, the ADPi house at Indiana had an open air. I'd assume the others did too.

An ex-gf of mine went to UWashington in Seattle and quit recruitment when she found out about the open airs, so at least several of the sororities up there have them.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

Yeah, several of the old Big 8 schools definitely have them. At Nebraska they've fallen decidedly out of favor, and I can only think of one sorority that still uses theirs. There might be one or two fraternities that do, but I doubt it.

I've been in open airs at Iowa State (Beta), K-state and Kansas (several different chapters).
When I went to UIFI, the ADPi house at Indiana had an open air. I'd assume the others did too.

An ex-gf of mine went to UWashington in Seattle and quit recruitment when she found out about the open airs, so at least several of the sororities up there have them.

Yes, several of the sororities and fraternities have sleeping porches at UW. A friend of mine that attended school in Oregon also had a sleeping porch in her house. Everyone I've known that had them grew to love them.

[BigRedBeta]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Yes, several of the sororities and fraternities have sleeping porches at UW. A friend of mine that attended school in Oregon also had a sleeping porch in her house. Everyone I've known that had them grew to love them.

Well, this girl was a princess to the nth degree...there's absolutely no way she would have grown to love them.

[couggirl]

most sororities at Washington State had them as well. I know one house that was built in the early 90's doesn't and that another house remodled and now have a number of rooms with about 10 people each instead of one big room. Fraternaties, I think most have them, but I did not go into all the fraternaty houses, at least not the sleeping part.

[Sister Havana]

Almost all the sororities at Indiana have cold dorms. I can only think of a few that don't - or didn't at the time I rushed. (Chi O, DZ, KD, ZTA, AEPhi, and I think the new AOPi house)

The only IU fraternities I know of that have them are Acacia, Sigma Chi, Fiji, and Pi Kappa Phi (which is in the former Sigma Kappa house).

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

Well, this girl was a princess to the nth degree...there's absolutely no way she would have grown to love them.

Sleeping porches are not uncommon in houses (and I mean private homes) built in the 1880s through, oh, the 1940s. This was before air conditioning. The sleeping porch was a screened porch furnished with what we might call daybeds. In the summer, you'd go out there where it was cooler to sleep.
Older Greek houses in the South often have them. I loved ours, which was on the 3rd floor where there were no rooms. We kept the windows open year round. Always quiet, always kinda dim. Great place to nap, or sleep late, without music and yelling etc. Daughter's sorority house had 2 on each floor, and they were a lot noisier. The rooms in both our houses had closets, twin dressers (all built in), a day bed and 2 desks.

[Kedzman]

I traveled for Sigma Nu as a Field Consultant in 1992-1993 and visited a couple dozen chapters. The only chapter house where I remembered a sleeping porch was at Oregon State.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Wow, I always thought sleeping porches were a very common arrangement. I guess not!

ETA: Here's info. with a photo of a porch at the UW Alpha Xi Delta Web site: students.washington.edu/alphaxi/recruit.php

ETA again: More photos here from an AGD chapter site: agddeltatheta.com/workpartypictures.htm

I painted the laundry room pictured on the Alpha Gam site two summers ago, along with the help of a sister who works in my office. I remember it so well as we were explaining to an older alumna about why people thought we had interests in Bob Marley or Rastafarians due to our color combo of red, buff, and green, and she had never heard of Bob or Rastas.

Sleeping porches are in the majority at UI and Wazzu, and I think that they have pros and cons. My chapter has two porches, and I remember being told years ago that WaterChild's chapter house had two, and one was just for women who snored or talked in their sleep.

I have no idea what boys did when bringing women to their porch beds (my boyfriends lived off campus), but from what I was told people either just shacked up in public because they were d-runk and p-lastered, put up blankets or a sheet (butt hutt), or went to a room. I think only one fraternity doesn't allow women on their porch (Theta Chi), Farmhouse is in a converted dorm and has bedrooms, and Sigma Chi has apartments. Phi Delt may not have a porch and Sig Ep is porch free in their new place.

If I remember right when the Sigma Nus remodled over at Wazzu they put in heated floors for the porch.

[WaterChild]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

Sleeping porches are in the majority at UI and Wazzu, and I think that they have pros and cons. My chapter has two porches, and I remember being told years ago that WaterChild's chapter house had two, and one was just for women who snored or talked in their sleep.

We have four. It's a cool system, actually. Two porches are for your average sleepers, one porch is for girls that need the room to be extra quiet and whispering and other noises are strictly prohibited, and the fourth is the loud porch for snorers and those that don't mind late night singing and nonsense.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by WaterChild

We have four. It's a cool system, actually. Two porches are for your average sleepers, one porch is for girls that need the room to be extra quiet and whispering and other noises are strictly prohibited, and the fourth is the loud porch for snorers and those that don't mind late night singing and nonsense.

I took the tour many moons ago (2002) when I was considering UI, so it has definitely been awhile. I do remember the amazing salad bar, and a room down in the basement for seniors that they could sleep in. Oh and the bathroom had a cute sea design, which I later figured out was DUH nautilus shells.

[WaterChild]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I took the tour many moons ago (2002) when I was considering UI, so it has definitely been awhile. I do remember the amazing salad bar, and a room down in the basement for seniors that they could sleep in. Oh and the bathroom had a cute sea design, which I later figured out was DUH nautilus shells.

Oh, really? That sounds adorable. We don't have nautilus shells anymore, they're just plain blue/yellow.

[SWTXBelle]

My daughters' camp, Skyland Camp for Girls, in Clyde, NC was started by the great-grandmother of the current owners. She bought a hotel, turned it into a camp, and installed a sleeping porch on the 2nd story. Now all the younger girls store their things in the rooms, but sleep amongst the pine trees on the sleeping porch. (Older girls are in cabins). I always thought it was neat.

[ASUADPi]

My initiation chapter, at U of A, has sleeping porches. If I remember correctly from what I was told, I think most of the sororities have porches. They do this because 1. total is high (I think it is around 180, but some chapters are well into the 200's, hence our chapter coming back early) 2. with sleeping porches more girls can live in the house. (But don't quote me on this I only know about my house a couple of others having porches)

Example, our house has 18 rooms. 1 room is for the president and her roommate. The upstairs has 17. While it would be cramped, the house would only hold 36 girls if they 'lived in' their rooms. (15 rooms could hold 2 girls, 2 could hold 3). The thing is, the rooms weren't designed to "live in". They were designed for the sleeping porch. With that being said, 53 girls could live in (upstairs). That gives the house more money. The only girl who got to sleep in her room was the president (and her roommate), everyone else was on the porch.

The rooms have(had) desks, closets, some had dressers and a daybed. The nice thing was that if you were tired, you could go up to bed and not be disturbed. But if you needed to be up late studying, you could do it without bothering your roommates. Plus, each room door had a white board on it, so you could let your roommates know if you were going to be up late studying or if you were sick. As for being sick, 17 rooms with daybeds, there would be a place to sleep. And if for some reason more than 17 girls are sick, well suck it up you'll probably get sick too

As for guys, not allowed in a sorority house. I remember when I was there, before you could bring a guy upstairs, you had to shout "man on the floor". Because you know in a sorority house we walked around in our bra's and underwear upstairs.

Waterchild- those would have been my kind of porches! I would need the porch for the light sleepers, because that is what I am