By Michele Richinick
The Student Government Association (SGA) and the Resident Student Association (RSA) recently passed legislation moving forward the university’s first on-campus Greek life living learning community (LLC). The LLC would be located in Parcel 18.
The next step is for Philomena Mantella, senior vice president for enrollment and student life, and members of the senior leadership team to give feedback and issue the approval or denial of the proposal, said Ryan Fox, SGA vice president for student services.
During the last few years, some members of fraternities and sororities have asked for housing for Greek members to live together on the same parts of campus, said Matthew Soleyn, RSA vice president for housing services.
Previously, Greek members looked to get off-campus houses, which the university could not support because the city had not licensed any fraternity or sorority houses, he said.
During the summer, representatives from RSA and SGA worked with leaders of Northeastern’s Greek organizations, members from Residential Life and Sarah Decker, the assistant director of student activities and fraternity and sorority life, to plan a proposal for Greek LLC housing, Soleyn said.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Fox said. “It opens up a lot of opportunities for students to feel connected on campus.”
Jennifer Erb, a member of the Delta Zeta sorority and a junior marketing and finance major, said Greek housing will be a great opportunity to increase Greek life on campus.
“It is a housing project that will allow younger leaders to network and learn how to be good leaders through a living learning environment,” Erb said. “I think it will be beneficial in the long run to get future leaders involved early on campus and in Greek life.”
SGA members passed the legislation at their meeting last Monday, and RSA members passed the legislation last Wednesday at their general council meeting.
Kat Stefurak, a middler political science major, said she does not agree with the LLC.
“I think the building would just get destroyed within two weeks of it being opened,” she said. “They think it would be constructive; it wouldn’t.”
Matthew Viccaro, a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and senior psychology and business major, said the LLC is a way for the other people living in Parcel 18 to gain exposure to Greek life and eliminate the stereotypes that often go along with Greek life. Viccaro said it will be beneficial for Greek life to have members interacting with other Greek organizations.
“Really early on they are getting the ability to interact with different organizations besides their own,” Viccaro said.
If passed, the Greek housing would be in one floor of Building I of Parcel 18, which is expected to open in Fall 2009 and will house 1,195 total students, Soleyn said.
The LLC will target sophomore and middler students in Greek organizations, and will help the students build leadership skills so they are stronger leaders in their Greek organizations for the future, Soleyn said.
“It is targeted toward a certain set of students, but that is no different than the current LLCs, like the computer science LLC where you have to be a computer science major [to live there],” Soleyn said.
“For the first year we want to make sure the size isn’t too big, and we want to make sure for the first year they are focused on the 50 people,” Soleyn said.
The design of the Greek housing in Building I will consist of two single rooms or two double rooms connected by a bathroom, with one common room for the entire floor, Soleyn said. There will either be two or four students sharing a bathroom that has a two-compartment bath, he said.
Meghan McCormick, a member of RSA’s housing services committee and a general counsel member, said at first she didn’t see the need for a Greek leadership LLC because there is already a leadership LLC in Speare Hall.
“Seeing as [Greek members] don’t live together, it’s really important to get them in the residence halls, so it’s important to put them in one floor to put them together,” McCormick said. “It would make Northeastern have a stronger, successful Greek program because they can bounce their ideas off each other and live closer together and get a lot done.”
Students can apply during the regular housing application process in January, Soleyn said. The application will have an option for interested students, who will need to answer a few questions based on why they want to live there and what ideas they could potentially bring to the LLC, he said.
Once students apply, a selection committee will look at all the applications and choose students from different Greek organizations, Soleyn said.
Fox said other student organizations have shown interests in group housing, like an upperclassmen LLC for students interested in learning languages.
Fox said there will be no additional expenses for the LLCs, and he said other students living in the building will see efforts done by the LLC for the building as a whole.
“It opens an opportunity for the extension of group housing,” Fox said.
