Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the few colleges in the Midwest where women cannot live in sorority houses on campus. Compared to another smaller, division three campus, Washington and Jefferson College, Greek life has the advantage of living in the facilities on campus.
All four of the university's sororities at Washington and Jefferson College live in their own college-owned, on-campus houses. The three-story buildings offer many amenities to women living in the house, such as a large chapter room, a full kitchen, single and double rooms on the second and third floors, and an apartment suite on the ground floor.
Rian Benz, a sophomore student at Washington and Jefferson, is a part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority on campus. She lives in the sorority house, where she likes everything it offers.
“Most of my sisters live in the house with me, and I love the community aspect that living in a house creates. I live in a single, and I like to have my own space, while also living with my friends right next door. I like to have a kitchen downstairs where I can cook whenever I want to.”
Benz described how it is to manage the expenses of living in the house.
“Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of cheapest sorority houses to live in, but besides that, it is not much more money than typical room and board. Because I am already paying dues to be in the sorority, it makes sense that I can pay a little extra to live in the house. The houses are on campus, so the university makes it an easy process to live in each house, making the whole process worth it”.
At Ohio Wesleyan University, sorority houses are located off-campus, and not owned by the university. Each sorority uses the houses for meetings and events only.
Etta Pierce, a sophomore at Ohio Wesleyan University in the Delta Delta Delta sorority, described her feelings about not being able to live in the house.
“I feel like it is unfair that we can’t live in the house. Especially with the amount of money we pay, we should be able to live there”.
Ohio Wesleyan does offer another option for students in Greek life in Thompson Hall, also known as the Panhellenic House. This facility houses up to 22 women from the five sororities at the university, and it is an option for women to live on campus.
Many women live here, but “living in the Panhellenic house is just like living in any other dorm,” Pierce said.
She also explained how she feels about the future of the Greek Life facilities.
“For the future, I think Ohio Wesleyan should look into better facilities for Greek life. It has been growing throughout the years and becoming more popular, so I think that Ohio Wesleyan really needs to think about the future.”
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