NCSU students want to know, will Greek life be affected by the new freshmen housing rule?
Priorities, people
As of Fall 2017, all incoming freshmen will be required to live on campus at NC State. While this decision effects students across the board, a popular question being asked on campus is whether sororities and fraternities will be impacted by this decision. Before the freshmen housing rule was implemented, students had the option of living off campus, but from next year forward, that is no longer allowed. In addition to making dorm life mandatory, students also have to buy one of the meal plans offered by university dining.
One of the most frequent questions raised was whether or not this rule would impact the rushing process and housing in the Greek village. With Rush Week, it’s crucial for chapters to come in contact with as many new faces as possible, so their location is important to have successful recruitment. With the possibility of more freshmen deciding to live in Greek village, there’s also a chance administration will have a closer eye on their activities.
The concept of organizations being officially registered with the university is a lot more complicated than it sounds. In order to be a full member with the university and receive the benefits of an affiliated group, the fraternity or sorority has to have a charter. Members have to pay dues, maintain a specific GPA and abide by the by-laws of their chapter and NCSU. Sometimes chapters aren’t able to officially recruit new members on campus if they don’t fulfill all requirements with the university.
We asked students at NCSU if they were concerned about the impacts of mandatory freshman housing on Greek life and their answers varied from “if you’re worried about more oversight because you’re screwing around, it means you shouldn’t be screwing around in the first place” to utter confusion about the change.
Chris Vaugh, a junior studying Business Management, told The Tab, “It makes filling the house for Spring semester very easy, since freshman can transition from a dorm to a university owned fraternity house without any additional charges, which is crucial since the university requires us to completely fill the house for Spring semester.”
NCSU sophomore, Seth Schneider, told The Tab “The biggest thing is that freshmen won’t be in UT anymore, so it’ll be a little harder to find people to rush.”
Though some members of Greek life have raised concerns about the new mandate, in the words of the Fraternity and Sorority Life Department, this is a good thing. They confirmed that fraternity and sorority houses are “considered part of the university, and thus is not excluded.”
“Rather than busing students from off campus apartments or having late night events without transportation that force students to walk home, all first year participants in the recruitment process will, in theory, live on campus. This provides shorter transportation routes and safer paths home at the end of a long day.”
There are many pros and cons to this new mandate, so as of now, only time will tell if Greek life will be under more scrutiny in the coming semesters.