By Alison Treen, For The Miami Student
As sorority pledge class sizes increase each year, the Panhellenic Association and Miami's Housing Options, Meals and Events (H.O.M.E.) Office have had to find alternative housing options apart from Central Quad, where Greek sophomore females have historically lived. While this year some sororities were moved to residence halls as far as North Quad, next year's sorority housing will be more compact, and some sorority women will have the option to live in Etheridge Hall.
Etheridge is a new residence hall on campus, and its hefty price tag reflects that. According to the H.O.M.E. Office's 2015-2016 room rates, it costs $2,924 per semester for a student to live in a traditional, non-renovated, double occupancy room (for example, in MacCracken). However, a double occupancy room in a new residence hall, such as Etheridge, costs $3,724 for a semester, a 27.4 percent price increase.
Etheridge is designed in houses rather than corridors; there are eight individual houses with 30 residents each, according to Miami's H.O.M.E. Office. The sororities living in Etheridge next year - Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi Beta - will live on one floor. The rest of Etheridge will still be available for unaffiliated students.
Aware of the price differences, Panhellenic and the H.O.M.E. Office use an opt-in system to ensure that housing and cost do not affect prospective pledges' sorority choices during spring recruitment.
The opt-in system, where sororities choose if they want to live in a residence hall off Central Quad, begins with housing availability provided by the H.O.M.E. Office. Last year, Panhellenic established a task force of students and alumni to determine which available residence halls would be most conducive to sorority women, according to Jenny Levering, director of the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Student Activities.
From there, chapters vote on whether they want to opt in, and chapter presidents then relay that opinion to Panhellenic when they vote in the fall.
"Women were given an option to opt in with knowledge of the price difference, and made their choices accordingly," said Darinka Sutic, president of the Panhellenic Association.
But just because a sorority opts in to living in different residence halls does not mean that the entire sorority will be based there. New member classes have about 60 to 70 women, according to Levering, but Alpha Phi, for example, only opted in to 30 beds in Etheridge - roughly half of their new members. The remainder of their pledge class will live in Central Quad.
According to Panhellenic, this gives certain sorority women the option to live in Etheridge, but also the choice to live elsewhere if they do not want to pay a higher price.
While the original idea was to have sorority women living in MacCracken, Richard, Hamilton and Minnich Halls, the increasing number of Greek members has made alternate living spaces necessary.
According to the Panhellenic Association's formal sorority recruitment reports, sorority membership has steadily increased over the years. In 2013, 898 women received bids; in 2014, this number rose to 949; and this year, a total of 970 women received bids.
"Sororities have outgrown the Sorority Quad spaces," Levering said. "We have to be open to different buildings. Our goal is to get all of the sororities as close together as possible and to keep the chapters' new member classes as together as possible."
As pledge classes continue to increase, Panhellenic predicts further expansion on campus, but also sees the movement from Central Quad as preparation for the current "Miami Makeover." This construction, currently underway on East Quad, includes renovations to every residence hall except Heritage Commons within the next 20 years, according to a 2012 Miami University News Release.
"Eventually, Central Quad will be renovated," Levering said. "People will have to be open to moving around campus, so part of this is also getting us ready for when MacCracken and Richard and Minnich all get renovated."
Levering also recognized overall space as a problem.
"There are not many places on campus where we can keep 60 women all together," she said.
In regards to living outside of Central Quad, Levering believes there are more benefits than drawbacks, especially for first-year students who become accustomed to newer construction as more residence halls are renovated.
"I think the majority of people are going to want that newly renovated space, and as first-year students start living in those renovated halls, they're going to want to live in new construction," Levering said.
Sutic agreed.
"Honestly, I don't think there are any drawbacks because Etheridge is so close and women will be with other women in their pledge classes. The sorority suites are also close so that pledge classes can utilize that space for bonding," she said.
While some sorority women may see an increased living expense next year off Central Quad, Panhellenic and the H.O.M.E. Office assure that it will be by choice. Yet, as renovations continue, increased costs may become more difficult to avoid.