The choice: live in the house or depledge

[valkyrie]

I think there's a difference between being told that you are required to live in the house for a year, and being told in April that you have to live in the house NEXT YEAR. It sounds like there are women who will be sopohmores next fall who already made arrangements for housing and planned to live in junior year. It's a terrible inconvenience for them and their roommates to suddenly have to make other arrangements.

Not everybody loves the idea of living in a house full of people, and I can understand that it's sometimes a requirement, but it also makes me wonder why sororities often have such gigantic houses that they can't fill without making people unhappy. A woman I knew in college who was in an NPHC sorority that didn't have a house said it best, in my opinion -- yes, they're my sisters, but that doesn't mean I want to live with them!

[texas*princess]

Originally posted by skerbow
Think they'll let an alumna move in???

You should be our house mom!!!! hehehe

What Valkyrie said... it sounds like there originally Wasn't a live-in requirement, but that changed late in the year when the house wasn't full.

I would have LOVED to have a house and live-in.... but I'd be pretty upset about it if I wasn't told about it until months after I'd made other housing plans!

[Rudey]

Being a Greek means you're not just thinking about yourself anymore.

In my work environment there is crap that comes up all the time that you hate. Things you can't control and things others are fully responsible for - but you swallow it up and take one for the team.

-Rudey

[MrsMcCartney]

We have issues with this. We have a system in place to decide who will get pulled in, we don't just draw names out of a hat. I don't understand the reluctanct to move in.....you have way more privacy than the dorms, you have great food cooked for you and a cleaning lady. What crappy little campus apartment is going to offer you a cook and a maid?

Honestly I think a lot of the girls avoid the house because of the male visitation policy.....no men in the bedroom wings. But are people really that horny? I mean, come on.....it isn't like you can't go shack up with him!

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally posted by 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.

I have to agree with this. We have this problem every year with the chapter that I support (my own) and I have no sympathy.

For us, the live in requirements are CLEARLY stated in our bylaws, and now in the standing rules of the chapter, so there's no reason they wouldn't know the rules.

And, harsh as it may be, my response is "let them deactivate, just give me your pin on the way out".

[XOMichelle]

I think it was one of those things where quota was small, and when they figured out who wanted to live in the house, there weren't as many people as they thought they had. Totally forgiveable. Besides, it's only 6 people! The sorority girls should be lucky they have a house at all!

[AXORissa]

Originally posted by MrsMcCartney
We have issues with this. We have a system in place to decide who will get pulled in, we don't just draw names out of a hat. I don't understand the reluctanct to move in.....you have way more privacy than the dorms, you have great food cooked for you and a cleaning lady. What crappy little campus apartment is going to offer you a cook and a maid?

that varies from campus to campus-- at my school, only one sorority (and I dont know about the fraternities) had a cook. We didnt. We had a kitchen and had to cook ourselves. we had a cleaning service come once a week or so. It was more expensive to live in our house than it was off campus. Since my school isnt huge on Greek life, most sisters have lots of GDI friends they want to live with. While the dorms sucked (at least back then, I heard a lot were remodeled) and I wouldnt live there again, I never got to experience off-campus life because I was pulled into the house for my junior year. My pledge class was pulled in first before the older sisters, which was unfair because some of the older sisters avoided living there at all, even though its in our bylaws that you have to live there for one year.

However, once I was there... I chose to stay Senior year. Living in the house DID have its advantages and was a ton of fun. But now I wished I had one year completely off campus where I could have thrown parties and not have to worry about the alcohol policy.

[KappaKittyCat]

Originally posted by MrsMcCartney
Honestly I think a lot of the girls avoid the house because of the male visitation policy.....no men in the bedroom wings. But are people really that horny?

I'm not sure that's entirely fair. It's not a question of horniness. I know that some women don't want to give up that personal freedom.

The visitation and alcohol policies are one reason that my chapter voted not to have a house. But then, I attend a residential school with only 1300 students; we're all in the dorms. One of my littles and grand-littles lives across the hall from me, the others live upstairs, and still others live down the hall. We're constantly in and out of each other's rooms anyway.

Really, it depends on the campus. But I agree that the chapters in question should sit down and better articulate their live-in policies, including how and when sisters might be pulled in. But in Northwestern's defense, they do have January formal recruitment, so they don't know what their next year's numbers are going to look like until February or so.

[Tom Earp]

Chapter size can have a lot to do with the problem. But that is or might not be the only problem.

The Alums felt our old house was so unsafe and we could not feel it, (One Active paid not to live in it) that we finally decided to demolish it. We now have no house, but still own the land. Our numbers are extemely low to a disterous point.

School size can also present a + or - situation, food service or catered meals in the house or hook into the meal service of the school.

But, as far as filling the Chapter House, it is a must. Why, because that is where a Chapter can make money for the chapter. Money helps fund social, charity, and recruitment functions.

Every member should be recuired to live in the house at least one year or maybe two depending on the filling of beds.

Usually, the freshman have to live on campus their first year, so Soph., Jr, live in the house and the Sen. have the option to move to an apartment unless they want to stay in the house.

Maybe the way they did it at such a late date seems to be the problem. The situation should have been aired out earlier and if it was, maybe it is just these two people who do not want to abide by the rules. If not, then why did you want to join a Greek Organization in the first place?

If the beds are not full, then why not charge each member a % to pay for the bed space that is not in use? We used parlor fees anyway for those that did not live in the house, but still used it as the focal point of the Group. They could and would tear the house up just as the ones living there.

I was glad I lived in My Fraternity House, we kept it up, maybe not fancy and was rented, but we took care of it ourselfs. Self Policing. Lived there until I got married, wished I had lived in it anyway!

[KappaKey-utie]

See, I can't imagine NOT wanting to live in your house! I wanted soo badly to get into my house, and was thrilled the day I found out I could move in! I believe that it's far more cost efficient, and just a better situation. You're never for want of anything, you're usually in a prime location, and you have at least 45 people and a house mom taking care of you! That, and you know about everything that's going on, and wil be less likely to miss important events because "you weren't at the house when they announced it." Those girls should be happy as anything that they are so provided for by their sorority, and if they are pulling out just because they didn't get their ways... well maybe they didn't really belong there in the first place.

[shadokat]

I would believe that it's mandatory to live in as long as the house isn't filled, point blank.

Originally posted by 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.

[sugar and spice]

I think this is an issue with winter rush, which Northwestern has. A lot of the girls who rush have probably already decided where they're living for next fall before they even go through recruitment. Because these girls can't really sign leases to live in the sorority house until they've gone through initiation, that means March or April before they know where they're going to live. I don't think that's fair unless the chapter makes it clear from the beginning of the new member period that there's a chance they will have to live in -- and it doesn't sound like that happened here.

Also, drawing names from a hat seems kind of like a weird way to decide unless nobody wanted to live in and all of them had equally good (or equally bad) excuses for not doing it.

[KellyB369]

Originally posted by SmartBlondeGPhB
And, harsh as it may be, my response is "let them deactivate, just give me your pin on the way out".

Amen! Having been a House Manager I could go on about this for pages and pages, but all I'll say is (and I know this was stated before): You are no longer an individual when you join. If you have to move in to the house to make sure the bills are paid and it can stay open then so be it. I don't believe these girls were not informed of a housing obligation when they rushed or pledged. And if you'd rather depledge or desister than move in, your chapter didn't need you anyway.

[AOIIalum]

I speak from experience when I say that operating a chapter house that is not filled to capacity is one of the worst things you can do to your organization. It's much easier on everyone involved to clearly explain the live-in requirement from day one, and ENFORCE it. Can your chapter survive on your campus without a physical house? In this day and age, it's the rare unhoused chapter who can grow and endure on a campus where all other chapters are housed. Again, experience talking there.

The bills still need to be paid whether the house is full or not. Guess who is responsible for the bills? That's right, the chapter! What if the chapter doesn't pay the bills? Guess who pays, the surplus or house/building fund. What happens when all that money runs out? Well, either you start over from the beginning or sell the house. Again, from experience, starting over from the beginning is HARD on everyone--collegiate members, alumnae, advisers, house corp. officers--EVERYONE.

Either you fill the house or sell the house. No games, no silliness, either fill it or sell it. Someone doesn't want to live in, fine, then if that means you have to suspend a member then do it, and collect every dime they owe the chapter and house corp when you pull their pin.