By Nicole Della Cava

Contributing Writer
The rumor that eight women living in the same house is considered a brothel started in the 1960s, during a decade that saw a huge spike in the number of women attending college. No one seems to know at which school the rumor began, but the truth is that there is no such state law or any University prohibition against sorority houses.

Greek women at our University were asked whether they wanted sorority houses or a sorority dorm. Sorority girls opted to not have houses because they liked the camaraderie of a sorority dorm and dues are less expensive than if women owned their own houses. Therefore, Hunt Hall was built in 1928 to act as a sorority house for all the sisters of each sorority.

On the other hand, every one of the 11 active fraternities on campus has its own house. The only advantage that I find is that each fraternity has its own chef. Besides that, there are many responsibilities and liability issues that come with having a fraternity house. Fraternities host the parties and must register with Public Safety, as well as take responsibility for anyone who gets hurt or sick at their party. I do not think that it is unfair that fraternities have houses on campus while sororities do not because I would not want to live in such a filthy house. I would not get work done if there was a party downstairs every night, nor would I want to sit in the common room if it was covered in spilled drinks and food. The clean up that every weekend renders definitely takes a long time and that would be the last thing I would want to do on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

There is a trade-off that fraternity brothers make when choosing to live in their house. The brothers get to choose which sorority they want to have a party with each night. The sororities have little say in their social schedule because they are simply guests at the fraternity houses. Despite this, I find the sororities have parties with the fraternities they like and that is what matters. It is important that men have fraternity houses because it creates a more unified group. Together, they plan parties and events, while they talk and hang out during meals. Sorority girls bond and become sisters in the same ways even without the unifying factor of a mutual house.

Greek life on campus does not discriminate based on gender nor is it patriarchal. Fraternities and sororities have the same values on campus and coordinate parties well with one another. There are a variety of parties going on every night so no females on campus are restricted to be at a party that they do not want to be at. The sorority girls on campus are smart not to have their own houses because they are never denied entry into parties based on what sorority they are in.