Limited Greek housing is a problem for
organizations
Jennifer Connolly / Reporter
Next fall, the landscape of Elon University's Loy Center
will change significantly for the first time in three
years. One of Elon's Greek organizations, Kappa
Alpha Order, will move from their current chapter house in
the Loy Center into a Maynard suite and Sigma Chi Fraternity
will move from their current duplex to the full house vacated
by Kappa Alpha.
As a result of this years' housing review, not only will
Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi move, but Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc. will move into the Loy J building, the
duplex vacated by Sigma Chi at the end of the year, and Sigma
Phi Epsilon received a suite in Maynard. Alpha Phi
Alpha is now in a Maynard Suite and Sigma Phi Epsilon, a new
Greek organization, currently does not have a house.
The move highlights that there are more Greek organizations
on campus than Greek houses. This is the root of the
ongoing problem of inadequate Greek housing at Elon, which
has recently become a more evident problem with the
installation of two new organizations, Delta Delta Delta
Fraternity and Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. Elon
administrators are currently considering the option of
building more Greek houses, which is a change many Greek
students have requested for years.
Junior Evan Godfrey, a member of Sigma Chi, said that all
Greek organizations at Elon deserve to have a house and it is
unfortunate for both the students and the school that there
is not enough housing for all of the Greek organizations.
"The Greek community has grown and expanded so much in
the past few years, that as a whole it has just outgrown the
Greek Courts," he said.
President Leo Lambert, Provost Gerry Francis, vice president
and dean of Student Life Smith Jackson, and assistant dean of
Students Scott Nelson toured the Loy Center during February
to help them consider a plan to construct more organizational
housing, according to Melissa Komasz, assistant director of
Greek Life.
Carrie Whittier, director of Greek Life, said most people
would agree that more housing would be a desired improvement
in the Greek community, but that she is unsure of where such
a plan falls in terms of Elon's institutional
priorities. She explained that Elon administrators are
considering the idea of building more houses and have
discussed it with her, but no plans have been made and the
problem of whether the school should build more houses is
still unresolved.
Each of Elon's Greek organizations applies every three
years to maintain or acquire a chapter facility in the Loy
Center, which houses more than 140 Greek students in 11 full
houses, one duplex and four Maynard Suites, according to the
Elon University office of Greek Life.
Each full house can hold 11 or 12 students and each
half of the duplex house can hold 6 people. A full
Maynard suite can hold 14 people. While 140 students
living in Greek housing may seem like a relatively large
number to some, more than 1,200 Elon students are affiliated
with a Greek organization.
Some chapters are housed in dorm-style suites in Maynard,
which hold 14 people but have no large common room like
the houses do, and some chapters do not have an on-campus
house or dorm at all. All organizations that want a
chapter facility do have one, said Whittier, whether it is a
house or a Maynard suite.
The Greek Housing Selection Committee, made up of
faculty and staff, made all decisions this year concerning
the housing applications and which organizations would be
placed in which facilities. The Greek Housing Selection
Committee released the results of the housing review in
writing on Feb. 24.
Sophomore Molly Jane Pearson, a member of Delta Delta Delta,
said that being in a suite as opposed to a house has multiple
disadvantages.
"The suite is in a dorm which means that our chapter
quarters are cramped," Pearson said. "We do not
have enough room to hold events such as Potential New Member
events, Chapter get-togethers and meetings."
Due to the disadvantages of being housed in a suite as well
as the lack of enough Greek houses, the application process
for houses is a stressful time for many organizations. This
year, the decisions of the Greek Housing Selection Committee
led to changes in the placement of Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi
Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Alpha Phi Alpha.
This decision may cause a change in the atmosphere of the
Greek Courts, especially since a Greek house is considered an
important possession by most Greek organizations on campus
and particularly for the men of Sigma Chi, who were happy to
recently find out about their assignment to a full house next
year.
"In living in the half house, we felt excluded from the
whole Greek community because we weren't in the main
Greek courts in a big house with everyone else," Godfrey
said. "Having a big house next year will make us feel
like more of a part of the Greek community."
Some other organizations did not get their wish for a house
and will keep waiting with hopes that the university will
decide to build more Greek housing, an idea which has been
rumored, but never acted upon for years.
"I'm really looking forward to the day when we can
have a house of our own," Pearson said. "It
will give our chapter a central place where we can live
together, socialize, hold meetings and, of course, have our
own place in which we can hold recruitment."
Some students see a house as a key element of their
chapter's success at Elon.
"I just want to come back to Elon in 15 years and still
see my chapter going strong in a full house," Godfrey
said. "But so does everyone else. That's the
problem with not having enough houses for everyone."
Contact Jennifer Connolly at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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Anna
Tolner / Assistant Photo Editor