By Greg Mcinerney
No two universities’ Greek lives are the same. With only one fraternity house still standing, Northeastern’s is especially unique.
“I was really looking forward to the whole frat house scene that I had seen in films and TV programs, so when I learned that Northeastern didn’t even have any I was really disappointed,” Greg Kehoe, a junior business major from Ireland, said. “I went to a frat party in MIT and it was brilliant. I don’t know why we couldn’t have that here.”
Fraternity houses at NU were extremely prevalent in the past, but have disappeared over time, according to retired sociology professor Wilfred Holton. The exception is the Beta Gamma Epsilon chapter, which has the only officially licensed fraternity house at Northeastern, located on Commonwealth Avenue.
Greek life in Boston was hit hard in 2007 when the Boston City Council unanimously passed an amendment to the zoning code to prevent groups of five or more undergraduates from living in a single rental unit. The bill received final approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Zoning Commission.
“I understand the law is intended to protect concerned residents close to universities, but this law unfairly punishes all fraternities and sororities for the misbehavior of a small few,” Michael Levecque, president of Northeastern’s Alpha Kappa Sigma chapter, said.
The application of the law itself also appears inconsistent, with many Northeastern students currently living in housing containing five or more undergraduate students.
According to its Interfraternity Council, MIT fraternity houses are classified as dormitories and are therefore exempt from the law. To see if this tactic could employed at Northeastern to resolve the current need for more on-campus accommodations, Residential Life was unable to comment.
Because of the lack of housing, Northeastern’s Greek life is perceived poorly in comparison to other schools, according to the popular website collegeprowler.com, a site set up to aid students in deciding which university to apply. The site gives Northeastern Greek life a “C” rating and the feedback is largely negative.
“Jokes. They don’t even have houses. 110% pointless,” one contributor, claiming to be a Northeastern student, said.
The majority of negative feedback on the site revolves around Northeastern’s lack of Greek housing.
Another factor in he demise of Greek housing could’ve been property prices. According to Boston.com, the average price of a single family home in Boston has soared from just over $100,000 in the late 1960s to around $398,000 currently.
This tempted fraternities to cash in on any property they owned. In 2008, The Huntington News reported the Phi Gamma Pi (PGP) fraternity sold its house to the Children’s Hospital Boston for a $1.1 million.
Another reason for the elimination of housing was the cost and energy upkeep requires, said Holton.
“The fraternities simply couldn’t afford to maintain these big and often old houses. Bad building conditions led the administration to clamp down on them,” he said.
Issues regarding public disturbances also appeared to have played a role in the demise of Northeastern’s Greek houses. According to reports in The Boston Globe, landlords began to restrict leasing to graduate students only as the level of disturbances began to increase.
In 1998, The Globe reported on the closing of the Gamma Phi Kappa chapter fraternity house in Roxbury. The closure came after persistent noise violations and a refusal to cooperate with police during inspections of late night parties. Police also noted poor upkeep of the house with no fire exits or smoke alarms present.
In 2003, The Globe also broke the news that the Phi Gamma Pi fraternity house, after numerous complaints from Brookline residents, had been suspended in October of that year. The suspension came following a party that drained 20 kegs and led to the arrest of four fraternity members. The fraternity no longer exists.
MIT fraternities and sororities have also had their fair share of controversial incidents. In 2001, the MIT News reported the suicide of a student at the Delta Upsilon fraternity house. In 1998, The Harvard Crimson detailed the case of MIT freshman Scott Krueger who fell into a coma and later died after excessive consumption of alcohol at a Phi Gamma Delta frat party.
Despite the controversy, Northeastern fraternity houses died out and MIT’s still remain. Robert Ferrara, senior director at MIT’s Department of Student Life, believes the tradition of the fraternities and sororities at MIT outweighs these negatives.
“Fraternities have been prevalent here for over 100 years and I can’t see that changing soon,” he said. “The Interfraternity Council is involved heavily in the regulatory and discipline processes so there really is a lot of beneficial self-regulation at play.”
Ferrara too is adamant that the relationship between MIT frats and the MIT police force is a healthy one.
“I know several high ranking figures in the MIT force and by and large they are pretty positive about fraternities,” Ferrara said. “Of course they have occasional reason to get involved, but they recognize the beneficial aspects that fraternities and sororities bring to the community.”
Ignatius Chen, public relations officer for the Interfraternity Council at MIT, said that Northeastern’s lack of fraternity and sorority housing puts its Greek life at a considerable disadvantage.
“We live together, eat together and take care and pride in our home together. This gives us a close bond and sense of brotherhood that I think would be difficult to establish without a frat house,” Chen said.
Levecque agrees and said he would embrace the possibility of an increased focus on fraternity housing at Northeastern.
“I am aware of the problems the school has had with fraternity housing in the past, but I think we could benefit hugely from the reintroduction of fraternity housing,” he said. “With the proper regulation, it could really add a lot to Greek life here without causing too much of a headache for the authorities and local community.”
Even with the absence of fraternity and sorority housing, participation in Northeastern Greek life has increased in recent years. Five new chapters have been established since 2008, to make a total of 25 recognized chapters on Northeastern’s campus.
According to Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) at Northeastern, approximately nine percent of the student population belongs to a fraternity or sorority – slightly below the 10 percent national average, reported by stateuniversity.com. MIT’s participation rate comes in at a considerably higher figure, around 25 percent according to its Intrafraternity Council website.
Sara Anthony, vice president of recruitment for Sigma Delta Tau sorority, is an advocate for Northeastern’s current approach to Greek life.
“One thing that sets Northeastern Greek life apart from other schools is that belonging to a certain sorority or fraternity does not define who you are; it gives you the opportunity to become more involved and make a difference through community service initiates and philanthropy projects while creating strong life-long friendships,” she said.
David Tobias, a junior history major, also believes Northeastern’s style of Greek life is preferable to that of MIT.
“Everything revolves around frats in MIT. I kind of like the fact that they don’t dominate Northeastern,” he said. “We have lots of great clubs and societies that can stand alongside fraternities and sororities in giving students a social outlet and a place to meet new people.”
