Sorority Housing and Sorority Life
Monday, March 01, 2010
As a member of an NPC sorority, you may have the opportunity to live in your chapter "house." A chapter "house" is a facility where some or all of the sorority's chapter members may live. This could be on or off campus. Some colleges and universities designate floors or suites in a particular residence hall for each chapter. Others allow sororities to lease or own property where they build their own house. Some schools designate certain residence halls on campus as chapter houses. In other cases, you may find that your chapter has a designated chapter room or office in a residence hall or building on a campus that does not have housing for sororities.
When you are participating in recruitment, it is important for you to find out what housing is available to you and what the chapter's requirements are. Some chapters house all of their members in their chapter house, while others may house only freshmen or sophomores. Others may house only chapter officers. Some chapters require members to pay a fee, often called a "parlor fee," in addition to their dues in order to pay for upkeep, cleaning services, food and kitchen services, laundry services, etc. On some campuses, if you live in a chapter house where meals are served, you may not need to purchase a full campus meal plan, while at others meals may not be provided and a meal plan is necessary.
The chapter house is often the heart of the sorority -- lots of activities from chapter meetings to sisterhood events to recruitment events may take place there. Living in the chapter house is a great way to meet your new sisters.
* The pictures show a variety of housing options. The top picture is a sorority house at Butler University, which houses up to 72 women. The second picture on the right is a sorority lodge at Ohio Wesleyan University that offers meeting, recruitment and study space for women but no sorority women live here. The last photo is the inside of a sorority suite at Baylor University, where a chapter meets but no one resides.