The real reason why Miami doesn’t have sorority houses

“The Mother of Fraternities.”

At Miami University, approximately one-third of undergraduate students are members of Greek life, which comprises 27 fraternities and 26 sororities. This includes the founding of five social Greek-letter organizations, from which the university earned this nickname.

The university is even ranked No. 15 on Niche’s 2025 Best Greek Life Colleges in America, beating out large Greek life schools like the University of South Carolina and Indiana University.

Of the 24 Interfraternity Council fraternity chapters at Miami, 21 occupy off-campus houses associated with the university. These chapter houses allow second-year fraternity men to live off campus, so long as they and their chapter are in good standing with the university.

But sorority women do not have the same opportunity.

There are two main rumors both sworn to be true by members of the Panhellenic community, which represents the 18 nationally-affiliated sororities. The first, most popular rumor says that Oxford City Council considers a house a brothel if a certain number of women live in a single residence, hence the suggestion of a “brothel law.”

The second rumor attributes the absence of chapter houses to a wealthy alumna who donated an extensive amount of money to the university with the stipulation that sororities could not ever build houses.

But neither of these rumors hold any truth.

The origin of sororities

On Oct. 24, 1902, Delta Zeta became the first sorority founded on Miami’s campus, paving the way for early women’s engagement at Miami. The sorority grew from six original members to 10 in 2015. Delta Zeta debuted its origin story in the 1905 edition of Recensio, Miami’s yearbook that ran from 1869 until discontinuation in 2015 and included a photo of the chapter members.

Photo by Provided by Miami University Libraries | The Miami Student
Delta Zeta was the first sorority founded on Miami's campus in 1902, making it one of the five houses originating at the university.

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In the 1909-1910 school year, Dean of Women Elizabeth Hamilton, the namesake of the all-female residence hall in Central Quad, published her annual report to University President Edgar Ewing Brandon, where she highlighted the living situation of sorority women.

“I reported to you last year that the sororities have been encouraged to establish themselves in houses off the campus in order that the Hall privileges might be extended to an equal number of unorganized girls living in town,” the report read.

That spring, the university experimented with off-campus living for sororities by transferring two sororities, Delta Zeta and Phi Tau, into chapter houses – which were initially built as university cottages – where they lived for nearly two years.

Sororities permanently move back on campus

The Feb. 8, 1912 edition of The Miami Student broke the news of sorority women being required to move into dorms the following year. The Advisory Committee directed that all female students, excluding those residing with their parents, were required to live on campus in dormitories, discontinuing sorority houses permanently.

Photo by The Miami Student | The Miami Student
In 1912, Miami required sorority women to begin living on campus in dorms, which went into effect the following school year.

More than 30 years later, the discussion of off-campus housing for sorority women resurfaced in the 1948-1949 Report of the Associate Director of Student Affairs as a way to open up more dormitory space for unorganized women. A group of 15 student leaders, mainly sorority presidents, approached the university and discussed residence hall life versus sorority house life regarding the personal and educational development of their chapter.

After several meetings, these student representatives concluded that they favored residence halls over sorority houses.

The creation of sorority suites

On March 28, 1952, The Miami Student published news of permanent sorority suites planned for South Hall (now Richard Hall). At the time, 10 sororities were established on campus and were temporarily housed in South Hall and Hamilton Hall, along with unaffiliated women.

However, only four of these chapters received permanent suite housing assignments: Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Sigma Epsilon, Zeta Tau Alpha and Alpha Epsilon Phi. The six sororities without suite assignments were temporarily placed in lodges located south of South Hall until the following school year when the completion of new residence halls could hold more suites.

Before the establishment of these permanent suites, sororities held chapter meetings in the classrooms of Harrison Hall.

Nearly 10 years later, sorority women reported that they were happy with their new housing situation.

Nearly 50 years after moving into dorms, sorority women gave positive feedback on their living arrangements.

Following the establishment of permanent, on-campus housing for sorority women, the construction of sorority houses at Miami was no longer a viable option due to Oxford’s expensive housing market. So, the Panhellenic Association at Miami created a no-house rule to follow the National Panhellenic Association standard that “there must be equal and comparable housing for all sororities.”

According to an article in the Feb. 24, 1984 edition of The Miami Student, there was not enough room for all sororities to build off-campus houses and not all sororities could afford a chapter house, which is the real reason why no sorority at Miami is allowed to occupy a chapter house off campus.

Sorority suites today

Out of the 26 sororities at Miami, only 17 Panhellenic sororities are housed in the five dormitories in Central Quad. Two to three sororities occupy each hall and are separated by floor or placed in different corridors, but share spaces like common bathrooms, living rooms and kitchens.

Alyssa Ciango, associate director of fraternity and sorority life, said she rarely hears of disputes occurring between chapters living in the same hall and sees the sorority living learning communities (LLC) as a positive experience for sorority women. Ciango has served as the associate director since 2021.

“That’s the beauty of the sorority LLC,” Ciango said. “You get to interact with other members of the Panhellenic community, not just your chapter sisters.”

Contrary to popular belief, sororities are not sorted into the five halls based on each chapter’s cumulative grade point average. Ciango said she assigns residence halls to chapters by comparing the floor plans to the recruitment numbers of each chapter, while also considering any accommodations certain women might need, including wheelchair access or single rooms.

“I don’t even look at [a sorority’s] GPA,” Ciango said.

Sorority women go through housing placement like other students registering for on-campus housing, said Rob Abowitz, associate director of residence life. The process is coordinated by the Campus Services Center and the Cliff Alexander Office of Greek Life, and Greek women have first choice in registration for one of the five dormitories in Central Quad based on their sorority’s placement.

After each room is filled, the remainder of the rooms are opened up through a lottery system for sophomore unaffiliated women looking to live on campus.

Photo by Graphic by Olivia Patel | The Miami Student
Miami University offers three types of residence hall formats for its on-campus students.

The five dormitories fall under the “standard” category of living, and sorority women pay the same amount to live in sorority LLC as they would for a first-year dormitory falling in the standard category.

“To buy a fraternity or sorority house is very expensive, [including] to maintain it and to update it,” Abowitz said. “If you look at the dues between [sororities with houses versus on-campus living], you’ll see the ones who have houses pay way more money.”

Ciara Murphy, Panhellenic director of sorority LLC, said she’s the liaison between the sorority LLC and Panhellenic women living in dorms. As a sophomore living in McCracken Hall, she said she has had only positive interactions with other women living in her hall; however, living in a dorm did not replace the experience of living in a house.

“I do wish Miami had houses,” Murphy said. “I would say it kind of comes back to things like not having a kitchen, your own fridge and even someone cooking for you like other schools have. The dorms ended up being better than I expected, but I still would’ve rather lived in a house.”

patelou@miamioh.edu