Live-in requirements?

[bluefish81]

My undergraduate chapter had live-in requirements. I believe it was four semesters, unless the chapter wasn't at capacity. If the chapter wasn't at house capacity (60), you were required to start living-in the following school year, i.e. if you joined when you were a freshman, fall of your sophomore year and so on. Some people, such as myself, moved in sooner, I joined the fall of my freshman year and moved at semester. The chapter was never at capacity when I was a member so everyone always lived-in. The chapter also had a ranking order for if there were only like two or three slots available to move out how that would be determined as well.

[ThetaPrincess24]

My chapter (atleast at the time I was active) had a requirement to stay on the designated dorm floor for 5 semesters.

[AlexMack]

When I joined the only requirement was that the house be full. After this started becoming a problem, we instituted a livein requirement.
I didn't live in-house.

[AchtungBaby80]

We were supposed to live in for four semesters, I believe? Something like that. Most people really wanted to live in the house, though, so it usually wasn't a problem trying to fill it. That was also good for the girls who just didn't want to live in, because they could get out of the two-year requirement if the house was already full.

[Tom Earp]

We require our President to live in house. It is also required for members to live in house for 1 year. But if the house is full, there is no need. Usually the need is to keep the house full and per bed costs to be comparable to all other housing.

It is after all the focal point of any Greek Organization.

[Eirbear]

We have a small house (holds 9 women), a President's apartment, and a dorm floor. Even with all of that, we have more women in our sorority than can fit in the affiliated areas. Our requirement is that sorority housing MUST be filled. I believe it just works out that pretty much all the sophomores live in an affiliated area (mostly the floor), then there are a few juniors on the Floor (mostly, the juniors who want to live in sorority housing live in the house), and the President and the sister of her choice lives in the apartment. There's no quarter requirement...as long as we have people volunteering to live in sorority housing, those who want to get student apartments are usually free to do so.

[Tex1899]

My fraternity has a chapter that gets their pledges, once they initiate, to sign a 2-year lease; they're 18 so it's a legal document. Their house capacity is 92, too. They probably overdid it when they expanded the house in '89...probably should have put capacity around 75.

We have a dormant chapter that had a 5 semester live-in requirement. That got them in the house more often than not for 3 full years.

We have another chapter that has I think a 5 or 6 semester live-in requirement. The house once held 75, but now it's rated for I think 51 or 52. Each fall they pledge only 17 (17x3=51).

The only drawback I see to having a 2+ year live-in requirement is usually the seniors aren't involved with the chapter, either by choice or because the "chapter" is the "house (ie who's living in the chapter house)."

[knitsnpurls]

We are not required to live in the house at my chapter. However, our house can only hold 41 girls out of 130+, so there's always more girls who want to live in the house than actually can. On my campus, all members of a sorority are required to have mealplans at their house though, regardless of where they live.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

It is after all the focal point of any Greek Organization.

I disagree, Tom. We have plenty of chapters that have no attached residential area - those with chapter rooms only, and even a few chapters with nothing but a storage room for records and ritual equipment.
The focal point of any Greek organization should, I think, be the friendships that you build through it.

[Sister Havana]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

It is after all the focal point of any Greek Organization.

Not necessarily. Certainly not for Alpha Phi Omega, whose bylaws forbid chapters to have houses. (You're a Brother, you should know that!)

[Elephant Walk]

Ours is suppose to be two years, but if people have financial reasons for not moving in, they're acceptable. I luckily have my own room, as do everyone but the spring pledges from last year and some of the holdovers.