Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993 TAG: 9312300055
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
It's a reputation - warranted or not - that makes it tough for the Greek student organizations to find housing.
The question has always been: Who's responsible for providing areas for Greek housing, the town or the university?
After studying the issue for roughly six months, a committee of the Blacksburg Planning Commission committee decided this month that the responsibility should be shared between the town and Virginia Tech.
"If we try to say that it's just the university's problem, then we are just blinding ourselves," said Commissioner Bill Claus, also an associate professor at Tech. Figuring that out was the easy part. Now the town and the university have to tackle the bigger issues: Where should the housing be located? How should it be provided? How much should be provided?
Currently, 35 fraternities and 15 sororities are recognized on campus.
Tom Goodale, Tech's vice president for student affairs, said roughly 15 Greek groups are now looking for housing.
The university intends to continue to build housing for fraternities and sororities, he said, but probably not enough for every group.
In the late 1970s, the Inter-Fraternity Council and the Division of Student Affairs proposed having Greek houses on campus.
The first three houses built near Virginia Tech's golf course were opened in 1983 and seven more were completed in 1990.
Students who live in special purpose housing sign room and board contracts with Tech - just like any other dorm resident.
Goodale said the university has gotten state approval to build phase III of its Special Purpose Housing, which will add six or seven more Greek houses. "The demand is far greater that what the university will be able to accommodate," said planning Commissioner Dale Oliver.
David Ostroth, director of student activities at Tech, said in the past a selection committee of students and faculty have selected which fraternities and sororities were given on-campus housing.
The houses have a large meeting room and beds for 36 students. Ostroth said the university tries to find groups with 50-55 members because not every one wants to live in Greek housing. Goodale said he and other university officials will meet with Greek student leaders on Jan. 30 to discuss housing issues facing fraternities and sororities.
The question of where to put Greek housing off-campus has been debated for years. The planning commission decided to tackle it again this year after Town Council refused to rezone 23.4 acres northwest of U.S. 460 on Toms Creek Road for Greek housing.
Kappa Delta, which wanted to build a three fraternity or sorority houses at the site, sued the town for not rezoning the property. The suit was dropped several months ago. "We're going to continue to get those pressures until we have a plan," said Joe Jones, chairman of the planning commission and part-owner of Raines Real Estate.
Greek housing is currently allowed by special use permit in two of the town's three residential districts.
Goodale said a lack of money is the biggest problem facing most Greek organizations that want to move off-campus. Sororities generally have bigger pocket books than fraternities, but the high building cost of a new house is often too pricey.
It cost the university roughly $700,000 to build each of the special purpose houses on campus.
In 1987, Town Council approved a proposal by developer Georgia Anne Snyder Falkinham to build a Greek housing community in south Blacksburg off Ramble Road. The project, called Knollwood, was never built.
Several members of the planning committee said the town should consider a special zoning district for fraternities and sororities.
"We need to take a serious look at this problem and if we can't solve it, at least we can say we really tried," Oliver said.
by CNB