| by Manu Krishnan Students living on NU’s north campus probably consider themselves as well prepared for a career in building contracting as consulting. Between the construction at SPAC, the new research facility north of Annenberg Hall, the cranes in Sargent parking lot and the quad-destroying monster that is Slivka Hall, you'd think it’s only a matter of time before Caterpillar becomes an NU corporate sponsor.
Amid NU's chaotic Quest to Build and Build More, two large curiosities stand noticeably empty and unused in the fraternity quads. The former chapter houses of Sigma Chi and Delta Kappa Epsilon are boarded up, locked, and completely vacant, rendered useless when their chapters were suspended for gross risk-management violations. Sigma Chi left in 2000, and DKE was kicked off campus in spring of 2001.
 | | The empty Sigma Chi house, near Sargent Hall on north campus. - photo by Emily Golub | | Campus administrators defend the construction increase on the grounds that NU is facing a serious shortage of land; they say they must keep pace with other top schools and provide the best facilities possible for their researchers and students. It seems odd, then, that these two large ex-fraternities would remain vacant. The reasons are complicated, but largely boil down to two things: money and pride.
Sigma Chi and DKE still hold leases on their houses – a fact their suspensions did not change. But Emmett Kronauer, treasurer of the Wranglers Inc., Delta Kappa Epsilon’s alumni corporation, says the rights to the house and the land on which it sits are very complex and at times unclear. The bottom line for him, however, is that losing the house altogether would mean much more than losing place to live.
“Our alumni corporation has invested $800,000 over the years in the house. That includes the original construction as well as all the improvements and additions we made," Kronauer said.
Both Sigma Chi and the Wranglers constructed their houses, and with nearly 200 years of on-campus history between them, the fraternities' identities are closely tied with their buildings. "The University is respectful of that fact, and it gives us a certain degree of control over what we want to do with the house,” Kronauer explained.
That being said, simply holding on to the house is a costly endeavor. “People don’t stop and think about utility and upkeep expenses," Kronauer said. "They are very high, even with an empty house, and must be absorbed by the alumni corporation.”
Kronauer said the immediate plans for the DKE house are very much up in the air, but didn't indicate the house would be used for other purposes in the near future. “We're still sorting out a lot of financial issues with the house, and we’ll make plans after we deal with that," he said. "As of right now, the house will stay as it is."
 | | The front door of the vacant DKE house, with empty common room inside. - photo by Emily Golub | | So why would a fraternity want to keep a house for which there ostensibly no use? The main reason is the prospect of re-chartering. Both houses entertain hopes of returning to campus, and having an attractive house already there is a major plus. Elizabeth Kos, NU's area coordinator of Greek life, says that when Sigma Chi left, the University extended them an invitation to return after four years. Kos said no such invitation was given to DKE.
Kronauer, however, said, “There was an understanding that we could look into coming back after four years.”
Had the houses been given back to NU, they would've been integrated into the university’s general housing pool. They would be available for a variety of purposes, such as housing, office space or administration – nearly all of which would require renovation.
Even if the University were able to gain control of the houses, it is unclear exactly what they would be used for. According to the administration, using DKE or Sigma Chi as student housing seems unlikely.
Garth Miller, NU’s director of dorms and commons services, said, “With the addition of Slivka Science and Engineering Residential College in September 2002, we do not anticipate at this time that there will be a need for any additional spaces in our residential system."
Phi Kappa Sigma, whose housing code violations led to that chapter's closing this past summer, was turned into student housing at the beginning of this year. Says Miller, "Phi Kappa Sigma's house became vacant in early August of 2001 and was converted into student residences in January of 2002 to meet additional housing demand, primarily by transfer students.”
Sigma Chi has apparently found an alternative solution to its dilemma: sub-leasing. Starting in December, Sigma Chi’s chapter house will be sub-leased to the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and used as office space. John Curry, president of Sigma Chi’s alumni corporation, said this plan alleviates some of the immediate financial concerns surrounding the house. “We'll be able to keep our lease, and at the same time get some revenue by putting some offices in the house, Curry said. "There won't really be any changes to the house itself.”
“The cost of maintaining a house is very high," Curry said. "Since there are no dues-paying members, we have no way to defray those costs. It falls squarely on the alumni corporation’s shoulders.”
He said the Sigma Chi Alumni corporation has more than $1.5 million invested in the house, and has a vested interest in keeping it until they return.
While converting a fraternity into anything else is unappealing for alumni corporations, opening doors to another fraternity is perhaps the least-desirable option – and could serve as an impediment to getting the house back later. Kronauer declined to comment on the subject, but there are clearly some NU fraternities interested in occupying these empty houses.
Frank Newell, president of Zeta Beta Tau, says his fraternity is facing a dire housing shortage, and would like to move into a facility that could accommodate them. “As it stands right now, we can’t even fit one class in to our house [at 576 Lincoln Street]. The capacity for the whole house is 24, and we average about 27 per pledge class. We depend on people going abroad to get everyone in.”
Sewell said the University has not been giving ZBT much information regarding the availability of a new house. “Last year, we even looked into using the front hallway of [adjacent] Theta Chi to help our housing problem. We looked into getting Phi Kappa Sigma’s house, but we were told it would cost $50,000 just to bring the place up to code. We would love to look at DKE’s house, but right now we've been told they’re hanging on to it.”
In a few years time, both Sigma Chi and DKE hope that their housing issues will be irrelevant. According to Curry, “The university remains a Greek-friendly place, and we hope they will welcome back a fraternity with the strength and tradition of Sigma Chi. Clearly what happened 2 years ago was inexcusable, but we should be able to go on.”
Kronauer said, “It is [DKE's] intention to come back as soon as we are permitted to, and we hope it’s soon.”
Seeing that both of these battles are backed by substantial amounts of money, neither fraternity can afford to lose.
What can Manu Krishnan do for you? He can be reached at v-krishnan@northwestern.edu. Back to the top of the article |
