As a few undergraduates are still in the process of finalizing their housing plans for next school year, some are considering the option of living in their Greek chapter house.
Students at Penn’s approximately 40 fraternities and sororities that have houses can choose to live within their Greek house after their freshman year. For some freshmen, though, the decision as to whether to “go Greek” for housing has been a confusing one.
College freshman Greta Baldwin, a Chi Omega sister who will be living in her sorority house next year, said initially she had wanted to live in the high rises.
“I planned to do the whole high-rise thing, but it turns out we needed to fill the sorority house, so a couple of girls asked me, and I agreed to do it,” she said.
Baldwin acknowledged that although it can be cheaper to live with her sorority, one reason she preferred the high rises to her Greek house was due to security concerns.
“In the high rises, you get to swipe in, and there is a security guard, which Greek houses don’t have,” she said.
Others, like Engineering freshman Sophia Siciliano, a sister in Sigma Kappa, have decided to go off campus rather than live in their Greek house due to the fact that their friends are not within the Greek system.
Siciliano decided to live in the Radian after on-campus housing gave her a room in Sansom, which was not one of her top choices.
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“I had decided pretty early on that I wanted to live with a group of my friends who were not in my sorority,” Siciliano said. “I knew that if I lived in my sorority, I may have to live in a double or a triple, and I wanted my own room.”
However, other freshmen are enthusiastic about staying in a Greek house next year, and say it is an important part of the Greek experience.
Wharton freshman Rishi Simha, a brother in Phi Kappa Sigma, known as “Skulls,” said he was looking forward to living in the Greek house next year for a number of reasons.
“There is a lot of camaraderie among our pledge class. Everyone was really enthusiastic about having the chance to live next to brothers next year,” Simha said. “Also, our house is in a prime location on campus.”
Looking back, Engineering sophomore and Pi Kappa Phi brother Jon Law said he regretted his decision to live in Rodin College House rather than in his chapter house this past year.
“Staying in a high rise was silly because I spent most of my time at the fraternity house anyway,” Law said. “I had to keep travelling between both houses.”
Law said he is looking to run for an executive position within his fraternity and has thus decided to live in the chapter house next year. He added that “almost my entire pledge class and the entire freshman class” has chosen to stay in the Greek house next year.
Thomas Hauber, the executive director of facilities in the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, wrote in an email that there are about 475 students who live in 25 University-managed Greek houses, as well as another 300 students living in 11 recognized privately owned or leased chapter houses.
According to College sophomore Jen Chaquette, president of Alpha Chi Omega, living in a Greek house can have many benefits.
“In general, it’s cheaper than on-campus housing, and since it’s off campus, the rooms tend to be bigger and you get the chance to live in a real house, rather than a dormitory or apartment building,” Chaquette said.
However, Chaquette believes the advantages of living in a Greek house go beyond lower costs and added space. Living in the house gives you an opportunity to become closer friends with some of your sisters, she said.
This story has been updated to more accurately reflect Chaquette’s words.
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