On today’s campuses, fraternity and sorority housing strives to keep up with the times while expanding on its history and traditions.
In Carla Yanni’s exploration of campus housing, Living on Campus, the historian notes that when the Zeta Psi House at the University of California, Berkeley, was built in 1876, it was the first campus structure in the country to serve as both a meeting and living space for the fraternity members. Within the next quarter century, though, more than 750 fraternity chapters nationwide would own and live in their own houses. And what houses they were. An unofficial competition to create the most lavish “architectural ornament” spread from fraternity to fraternity and campus to campus. The Psi Upsilon House at the University of Michigan, for example, was described in 1906 as having a tower “eighty feet in height.”
This image of Greek housing – residential buildings constructed in the Queen Anne Revival, Greek Revival, neo-Colonial, and other stately styles, with Greek letters on their façades and parties on the front lawn – still holds true. Fraternity and sorority housing remains a draw for many students who desire the community, camaraderie, and rich traditions that they can provide. Many of the houses are still maintained and funded by chapter alumni and their national fraternal organizations. However, spurred by changes in economics, expectations, and higher education culture, more of this type of housing has been falling at least partially within the primary campus housing department’s portfolio. That, along with the need to renovate these historical buildings, has led to a modernization of fraternity and sorority housing on several campuses. Doing so has allowed these student groups – particularly smaller sororities and fraternities not connected with national organizations – to enjoy the amenities they desire to grow and succeed, such as chapter meeting rooms, secure storage, specific branding, outdoor green space, separate entrances, kitchens, and even meal plans. At the same time, college and university administrators have more influence over the behavior of residents in these buildings when they are able to provide a safe, healthy, and inclusive environment.
The on-campus fraternity and sorority housing at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is owned and operated by the university, which recently completed a $32.6 million on-campus Fraternity and Sorority Quad featuring a 140-bed sorority house and a 70-year-old residence hall dramatically transformed into a modern living space for campus fraternity members. “This project will facilitate more community building among the fraternity and sorority life organizations by providing more opportunities for all the chapters to be involved,” says Kelsey Hassenstab, former UNK assistant director of fraternity and sorority life. “It’s more inclusive and progressive housing, which will allow us to grow closer as a community and work together to achieve our educational and community service goals.”
The new quad replaces UNK’s previous fraternity and sorority housing – University Residence South and University Residence North, constructed in 1991 and 1992, respectively – with a renovated Martin Hall and the new Bess Furman Armstrong Hall, officially dedicated earlier this year. The 41,000-square-foot Armstrong Hall, located across from Martin Hall, ushers in a new era for sorority housing on campus. Its design features dedicated housing pods, chapter rooms, lounges, and study areas for each of the four sororities, plus outdoor patios and green space. The hall also includes chapter rooms and a shared lounge for UNK’s multicultural chapters, giving them a permanent oncampus home for the first time
Located just east of the Nebraskan Student Union, Martin Hall is now a central hub for fraternity and sorority life on UNK’s campus. The 42,500-square-foot building features 120 beds, chapter rooms and lounges, shared study areas, and a great room that serves as an event space for the university’s fraternities and sororities, plus chancellor and campuswide events. Designers were particularly careful to preserve many of the hall’s historic elements, such as the cornerstone marking the building’s construction in 1953, while adding new amenities and upgrades, such as single-person restrooms and showers. With flexibility in mind, Martin Hall was also redesigned to absorb the fluctuations of fraternity populations from one year to the next. “The students worked closely with the administration to ensure that private chapter rooms were built for each of the Greek organizations. While this certainly isn't the most efficient use of space, the chapters continue to have a unified voice that their individualized space is important for their organization to thrive,” explains Trelana Daniel, UNK’s director of residence life. “Each chapter continues to need space to hold their traditions, keep their rituals private, and prepare for their education and service goals. The students don't agree on everything with the build, and chapters had different opinions on most things, but having designated chapter space has remained consistent through the design phase and into the usage phase of the buildings.”
In 2023, North Carolina State University envisioned the transformation of outdated fraternity and sorority housing into a trio of housing options in the university’s new Greek Village as one of the final pieces of a larger goal and commitment from the university to provide fraternity and sorority experiences for various groups. The new housing includes three different models: Chapter Commons, which has townhomes and dining facilities for three medium-sized fraternities; Greek Village Townhomes for smaller fraternities and sororities; and an apartment building for upper-division students. In total, the new structures provide 279 beds and nearly 100,000 square feet of living space. As NC State’s Fraternity and Sorority Life vision statement notes, “This new development will enhance our fraternity and sorority chapters by improving housing for members, strengthening our relations with alumni, and ensuring a long-term future for our organizations.”
Greek chapters had occupied space in the heart of the NC State campus for more than 40 years, and in the spring of 2021 the Phase IV project began with the demolition of the Pi Beta Phi house, Alpha Delta Pi house, outdated entomology labs, and a duplex on the site. NC State’s Greek Village Master Plan, originally developed in 2006, is a five-phased redevelopment plan to replace aging infrastructure and provide modern amenities and multiple housing options for the university’s fraternity and sorority community. A total of 21 building lots were made available in the multi-phased plan that would remove existing university-owned houses. “The completion of Greek Village Phase IV represents a significant milestone towards the completion of the five-phase master plan. The new housing, which provides three different occupancy models, accommodates student organizations that previously did not have the opportunity to be a part of the Greek community. Phase IV has become the heart of Greek Village and creates a place and space for all student organizations to feel a sense of belonging and presence,” says Ben Benson, a principal with Jenkins • Peer Architects.
Shelly Brown Dobek, NC State director of fraternity and sorority life and a previous president of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors, explains that along with what would be considered more traditional fraternities and sororities, the Greek Village includes housing for smaller, newer student groups that may desire different features. Those additions meant rethinking the traditional model. “Most fraternity and sorority housing has been focused on sophomores, so you're not building first-year experience housing. You're focused on sophomores. And if you're looking at culturally based organizations, which was the last phase of the project we just did, you're looking more at juniors and seniors. So that means full-size versus twin beds. You're looking at including more singles versus doubles. Their tolerance for living in combined spaces shifted pretty dramatically after COVID, but juniors and seniors have always wanted that. So I think a lot of our early fraternity and sorority housing was focused on freshmen and sophomores, and I think now it's really got to be focused more on sophomores, juniors, and seniors if we're looking to add more inclusivity to the projects.”
Dobek notes that traditional occupancy models for fraternity and sorority housing would call for one bed for every two members. That number is now more likely to be one bed for every three members. “Knowing that, if I am looking at building a facility and I want to support an organization with 100 members, I shouldn't look at more than 30 to 32 beds to support that organization,” Dobek explains. “When you're looking at mega chapters, you probably don't have enough acreage to build that many beds. So now how are you going to generate enough revenue to offset the non-revenue generating portions? I think that's where residence halls and fraternities and sorority life are really different. The amount of non-revenue generating space that we need to support the program is really different. What that typically means then is that we have to find additional ways to fund them through the entire membership, usually in what we call parlor fees. You're not looking at a pro forma that is supported only through rents. You're looking at pro formas that are supported through rents, parlor fees, and probably introducing small commercial kitchens.”
The new buildings for fraternity and sorority housing at NC State are spacious and include many attractive amenities. The new four-story, 62,048-square-foot apartment building for upper-division students includes 147 beds. All the apartment units have single bedrooms and feature full-sized beds, large living rooms, and full kitchens. The complex also includes communal coworking spaces, a community lounge, and a shared laundry facility on the first floor. The three-story Chapter Commons features three 25-person units with a shared dining room and seating for about 88 people, which also doubles as a large meeting room or classroom with audio-visual capabilities, a large screen, two flat screen panels, adjustable lighting, and a sound system. Greek Village Townhomes, for the smallest organizations, features six large townhomes that range in size from five to 14 beds. The building also includes a multipurpose room, two communal laundry rooms, and a large back patio area where the groups host events.
In developing the new buildings, it was important to provide each group with an appropriate amount of space. As Dobek explains, “These organizations have their own identities, especially if we're thinking about that point of pride. If they are already a marginalized group on campus, meaning they might be a culturally based group, or a Jewish-faith group, or a women-in-engineering group, it was really important that the scale of what we built would match so that there wasn't a less-than feeling from the exterior into the interior. That means that everybody had their own front door and that it wasn't a kind of catch-all because a lot of times we further marginalize students with nondominant identities by clustering them together. If you're going to build housing that shares services like common space and elevators and laundry units, we had to think of how to counterbalance that with really shaping identity from that front-porch feel.”
Other physical features may differentiate fraternity and sorority housing from traditional residence halls. Dobek encourages schools to consider the durability of the finishes used and warns groups away from hollow-core doors even if they are less expensive. At NC State, extra blocking was placed behind the walls to support large hanging objects, such as framed composite photographs or 75-inch television screens. The new halls have moved from ensuite bathrooms to club bathrooms, which are divided so that showers are private but all the “getting-ready” spaces are located in the hallways and fitted with large counters and big mirrors. As Dobek explains, “That’s where they do their hair and makeup, and it becomes a really socially activated space. That has been a big NC State tradition and something that has gone pretty well.” Dobek also suggests having a camera prominently mounted in the laundry area to discourage mischief. “People like to mess with each other in these organizations,” she says with a slight laugh. “That sort of buffoonery is part of the tradition of these groups. I have one sorority and two fraternities living together in Chapter Commons, and that was the one thing they were worried about.”
Bringing this type of housing into the university’s portfolio has other benefits. With changing economics, exploding real estate markets, and higher interest rates, it is not possible for many groups to build or maintain their own buildings, but they can afford to rent them from the university. Similarly, the university can help groups purchase their furniture and other fixtures, and categorizing the residences as on-campus housing allows some students to utilize scholarship funds they otherwise would not be able to. There are several other important economic benefits. “We know that the fraternity and sorority experience is a high-affinity experience in terms of alumni wanting to come back and give of their time, talent, or treasure,” says Dobek. That connection can lead to structuring ground leases and partnerships in a way that allows campuses to expand their inventory and offer desired housing experiences while limiting the debt that the campus must take on.
Fraternities and sororities will always have their place in higher education, serving as an initiation into adulthood for students and playing an important role in team building, tradition, and community service. The new on-campus fraternity and sorority housing model is an effort by colleges and universities to make this experience more attainable for a larger population of students who may otherwise never have an opportunity or the financial resources to participate. Now that’s an opportunity worth pledging for.
This article was featured in ACUHO-I Talking Stick November 2024 issue.
