GREEK LIFE HOUSING

Life in letters By Julia Potts Sorority, fraternity row offer housing, study spaces for Greek life students

Pilar Ibarra — THE BATTALION @juliaapotts

As the end of the semester nears, many students may be looking for a new living space. For at least one in every 10 undergraduate students, Greek housing may be the answer.

There are thousands of students involved with Greek life at Texas A&M across 58 affiliated or Greek organizations, according to Student Activities, with 14 sorority and 19 fraternity chapters.

Anyone driving down Dominik Drive cannot fail to see the large, white houses with massive Greek letters hanging above the doors. Sorority Row, with houses on Olympia Way, Athens Drive and University Oaks Boulevard, is home to 12 houses, out of the 14 sorority chapters at A&M.

Industrial system engineering junior Jessica Frederick said she joined her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, to help her build a community in college. After her freshman year, she was asked if she wanted to live in the house for her sophomore year. Frederick said when living in the house, there was always someone to talk to.

“I loved it,” Frederick said. “I had a great experience. It helped me get a lot closer to the girls because coming into it, I wasn’t super close with everyone, some people I hadn’t really talked to. But, after a year of living with them next door, it was a great experience, and I recommend it to anyone.”

Sharing Frederick’s social experience, allied health sophomore Kathryn Worth said after growing up with only brothers, the sisterhood she feels when living in the Delta Zeta house is a great experience.

“Getting this experience, I couldn’t pass it up, because first when you meet your friends in Greek life you have a small little group, but then you’re always wanting to reach out and meet more people and make deeper connections with people outside of your bubble,” Worth said.

On the other side of Greek life, A&M fraternities have more than just houses open to their members. Accounting junior Kyle Burton said he joined Greek life on the recommendation of his cousin, and ultimately joined Pi Kappa Alpha. His fraternity has a house and a barn, but both are only used for events, not living. However, they still provide ample social and event space for the members to get to know each other, even if they can’t live together.

“It’s definitely something special that not a lot of other organizations have,” Burton said. “But, just having the space doesn’t necessarily equate to having a good experience. At the end of the day, the people that you’re around [are what] make it special.”

For those able to live in the Greek houses, Worth said there are some unexpected benefits, such as the occasional house-cleaning personnel and a house mom to help deal with any issues that arise. On top of that, Worth said there is always someone to do anything with.

“We have a chef, so you don’t have to cook any meals, so that’s amazing,” Worth said. “You have so many girls around you at all times, so if you don’t like to be alone or you always like to be doing stuff with other girls, you’re always going to have that.”

In addition to the social aspect of living with her sorority sisters, Frederick said the house itself made her stay that much more enjoyable.

“It’s a really pretty house,” Frederick said. “They did renovations right before I rushed, and the rooms were nice. They were probably about the same size as the dorm rooms. I don’t have any complaints; it wasn’t anything crazy, [but] it was really nice.”

Frederick said the academic environment was not something she expected to experience living in the house. However, there were almost always women studying in the common areas, she said.

“What honestly surprised me, I came into it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m never going to be doing school work, everyone’s always just going to be hanging out,’” Frederick said. “But, pretty much all hours of the day downstairs, there would be people studying. You can just go down there and join them, and there were lots of places to study, so that actually helped.”

Likewise, Worth said the house serves as a close-to-home study spot for all of the residents.

“School-wise, we have a big room that you can study in,” Worth said. “So, if you’re not comfortable going to the library late at night or something like that, you’ll always have somewhere here to get stuff done.”

Overall, Worth said living in the house has been one of the best experiences of her life, providing her more opportunities to bond with the other women in her sorority.

“I didn’t know half the people I moved in with, and the first week before work week starts when we move in, you have so much free time and so much time just to stay up late at night, get to know everybody, do fun stuff around the house,” Worth said. “If you’re looking for a close sisterhood and to build true, deep connections, living in the house is probably the best option.”