Sorority in crisis, please help!!

[adpiucf]

Sisters living in the house are preferable to boarders who may be inconvenienced by having to leave the house they pay rent at when you host ritual events.

The house corp, being made up of sorority alum, should also recognize there is a possible "danger" in housing non-members in the sorority house -- breach in ritual, other sororities on campus talking about you and starting rumors that inhibit your recruitment, etc.

Your house corp should pay to break leases for those sisters who have already signed with off-campus housing/on-campus residence halls, etc. This will cost them far less in the long-run.

First, make this offer to all chapter members. See how many spots you still have open. Next, require any chapter officers not currently living-in to live in. Again, house corp. will pay to break their leases. At best you fill the house this way. At worst, someone drops her office and refuses to live in-- in which case you fill the office when the school year begins. If there are any spots still open after these first two options have been exhausted, require your most recent pledge class to fill the remaining spots until they're gone.

Some people may drop b/c of this-- but if they're going to throw this kind of hissy fit, you probably don't want them around anyway.

You also need to amend your chapter bylaws once the school year begins to address what you should do if the house is not full and the order of priority for members to move-in. In fact, review your bylaws now-- the guide may already be in there!

[33girl]

alum - I can totally understand someone preferring to live in one of the sorority houses at your alma mater, rather than trying to look for an apartment and landlord who would be decent. That can be scary in a teeny college town let alone Squill/Oakland. I'm sure there were also parents who preferred that option immensely!

adpiucf - it depends on the size of your house - if you either 1) have a large enough space for rituals & such that's apart from the rest of the house (like a basement) or 2) have a teeny house and really don't have rituals or meetings there, it's not as bad as it sounds.

If you ever do get stuck and have to take in boarders, try to get grad students or seniors who have no interest in pledging whatsoever and just need a place to lay their heads. If you take in underclassmen who might want to be Greek, it can get dicey.

[alum]

Originally Posted by 33girl

alum - I can totally understand someone preferring to live in one of the sorority houses at your alma mater, rather than trying to look for an apartment and landlord who would be decent. That can be scary in a teeny college town let alone Squill/Oakland. I'm sure there were also parents who preferred that option immensely!

But CMU Housing has more than enough for undergrads with no social restrictions as the sorority houses had. Housing had a lottery:rising srs picked rooms the first night, jrs the 2nd, sophs the 3rd.

I liked being in a dorm but wouldn't have minded parts of Squirrel Hill. After all, a lot of our professors and students came from there. Oakland and Shadyside? Not so sure.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by alum

But CMU Housing has more than enough for undergrads with no social restrictions as the sorority houses had. Housing had a lottery:rising srs picked rooms the first night, jrs the 2nd, sophs the 3rd.

I liked being in a dorm but wouldn't have minded parts of Squirrel Hill. After all, a lot of our professors and students came from there. Oakland and Shadyside? Not so sure.

Ah OK. I'm not saying Squill itself is scary, rather the prospect of being from Pigsknuckle PA and trying to find an apartment is.

[adpiucf]

Is Pigsknuckle a real place? I know there are a few cities in PA with weird names... LOL.

[33girl]

No, Pigsknuckle is a reference from Animal House. We do however have Slippery Rock, Scalp Level and Blue Ball.

[adpiucf]

Ah thank you! LOL

And let's not forget Intercourse, PA.

I lived in Philly through elementary school. I remember the map of PA hanging in the classroom... I don't think all those town founders had intended for those names to sound as silly as we find them today.... but they do make for a good laugh.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Slippery Rock

SLIMEY PEBBLE!!!

*Ghost GLO*

Sorry, I'm done.

[ISUKiteFlyer]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Your house corp should pay to break leases for those sisters who have already signed with off-campus housing/on-campus residence halls, etc. This will cost them far less in the long-run.

I agree that it would be far cheaper for your corp. board in the long run, and better for your chapter in so many ways. Even if they can't step up to the plate and pay to break the leases (or give a short term loan to help their sisters), they could at the very least step up and help with the process itself. For some reason landlords pay a little more attention in college towns when an "adult" is involved, and it might help the members feel taken care of, that their house needs them.

Originally Posted by adpiucf

You also need to amend your chapter bylaws once the school year begins to address what you should do if the house is not full and the order of priority for members to move-in. In fact, review your bylaws now-- the guide may already be in there!

Agreed! When I was initiated, we had 27 actives in a house that can hold 52. (We're closer to 70 now, hooray!) It was openly stated that our semester of initiation, we weren't expected to move in (although many Fall Formal Recruitment NMs did) but the following semester, we did. The house needed to stay full, and if there were vacancies, the actives were expected to be in-house. It was a responsibility of membership. If it were full, the Seniors had first choice to be out-of-house, and actually our corp. board happened to own the "residential" house next door and it would become the senior annex.

I digress... do review (and possibly modify) your by-laws and ask your alumnae to step up to the plate! Would your Greek affairs office be able to help with the lease-breaking? Just a last-minute thought...

Good luck, keep us posted!