The actual house may not have moved, but since last May, when Beta Theta Pi President Michael Robinson ’13 signed the new housing policy, Beta has officially moved on-campus. Although it may seem like nothing has changed, Beta has lost its distinction of being the only off-campus fraternity.
Last year, the Administration stirred up fierce controversy after writing an amendment to the student housing policy that effectively forced Beta to rejoin on-campus housing. They cited student safety as a major impetus for the amendment, though many students were upset by the new policy, and more expressed frustration with the way it was phrased.
Previously, students who wished to live in Beta needed to apply to live off-campus, and up until six years ago, most of those requests were granted.
However, according to Director of Residential Life Fran Koerting, the University has since taken a much stronger stance towards students’ residential life, granting only those students who meet very specific criteria, such as marital status or health reasons, the ability to live off-campus.
Previously, Beta brothers living in the house would have to pay for both on-campus room and board and off-campus housing, unless the fraternity had agreed to waive the charges for living in the Beta house. Robinson said that he himself shared a room with someone in Eclectic. Thus, Robinson’s “roommate” had a double, while Robinson only lived in Beta.
“When Beta was not part of program housing, brothers couldn’t live in the house without also living on campus, so they would have rooms but not live there,” Koerting said. “Right away those brothers are going to have to pay two rents. I always felt for the brothers–we would rarely release the juniors and seniors to live there, and never sophomores. I always asked, ‘Why don’t you go into program houses?’ They had to go through a convoluted process–apply for off campus in February, go through GRS, wait until May to figure out if they would be released, and then they would figure out we wouldn’t release them. This takes all that stress off of them.”
Administrators said that they believed the fact that Beta is part of on-campus housing will lead to an increased level of student safety. Consistent with regulations for all program houses, the amount of people allowed at unregistered events is now regulated, and Public Safety has different guidelines for what classifies as ‘probable cause’ to enter certain social or living areas of Beta.
Robinson does not think that the shift to on-campus housing has altered daily life at Beta.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect day-to-day life and I think we’re still going to be able to hold events like we used to. I just think that there’s an element of freedom and independence that is missing now, but I don’t think too much is going to change.”
Robinson said that despite the fact that that fraternity members opposed Beta’s reintegration into on-campus housing, they are eager to move past the dispute.
“There’s an understanding of why the University did what they did,” Robinson said, “But I don’t think that anyone agrees that what they did was necessary. I don’t think that anyone was particularly happy about coming on campus.”
Koerting is enthusiastic about the fraternity’s relationship with the University going forward.
“They have been great,” Koerting said. “[Beta member] J.D. Dietrich ’13 faxed me a drawing of the house, of the rooms, and of who was living there. We met with the manager over the summer, and he took us on a tour. It’s been great working with them; they have been so receptive and great to work with. Now we can continue responding to their unique needs, and now Beta can be part of the conversation.”
Dean of students, Rick Culliton, also felt very positive about how Beta has responded to the change.
“The initial meeting last week with all of the organizations in program housing was a good opportunity for those leaders to share their expectations and for the University to do the same,” Culliton wrote in an email to The Argus. “Robinson and Dieterich from Beta participated in the meeting and expressed their desire that Beta become better connected to the university community this year. I believe we’re starting the year in the right direction.”
Robinson said that the fraternity hopes to make the most of their house, whether it be on or off campus.
“We would like it to be clear that the fact is, it wasn’t our choice, but now that we are on campus, we are accepting of the change and looking forward to building a positive relationship,” he said. “No one feels resentful. Now that we are a program house, we are going to take full advantage of it.”