There were no riots and there was no shouting--the reactions of representatives for the 26 undergraduate selective living groups were mixed at a Thursday night meeting, where administrators announced the future location of each house.
Although 11 groups--four fraternities and seven non-fraternity selective houses--received their top picks, 11 groups received housing that was not among their top three preferences. Administrators emphasized that size played a key role in determining groups' locations, more so than their preferences.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the only black selective living group on campus, was one of four groups that will reside in housing not listed among any of their top 10 preferences. Instead, Alpha will live in a section in Edens Quadrangle.
"We're happy we're not in the [West-Edens Link]," said junior John Njoku, a member of Alpha. "We have access to commons space, but our main concern is location.... They kept telling us that everything will be different with the tower, but I guess we all don't know until it happens."
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and Assistant Dean of Student Development Bill Burig spoke to the assembled group of primarily house presidents in the Faculty Commons before releasing packets of information. The packets detailed each group's location, top 10 picks and an analysis of the process.
"It's a daunting task to distribute pain equally and distribute pleasure equally," said Moneta, admitting that satisfaction for groups likely hinged on whether they will live on Main West Campus. "Obviously, we've taken a position that the new West Campus... is going to be a very different campus."
Burig stressed that size and targeted space clusters were vital in determining where groups would reside. He said that sometimes a group's numbers drastically affected its placement, regardless of preference.
Even though Theta Chi fraternity--a 47-member group--listed a Kilgo Quadrangle section above its placement in Edens, a 39-member group that did not even list the section--Sigma Nu fraternity--was placed there instead; the section has 34 beds.
Burig hoped to fill between 38 and 40 percent of each designated quad with selective housing. Crowell, Clocktower and Main West Quadrangles will be reserved for independents.
"As far as I could tell, they didn't use the prefs as criteria," said junior Drew Dinsick, president of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. "They used size a lot more. Just looking at the data, there was a whole lot of preference on getting the number of people in the quad rather than giving people what they wanted." ATO received its fifth choice, in Craven Quadrangle.
Burig said no character records or annual reviews played a role in the selection process. Although he said he wanted a mix of fraternity and non-fraternity houses in each quad, only five non-fraternity houses will reside on Main West, alongside 11 fraternities. Edens will be split equally between three fraternity and three non-fraternity groups. Only one fraternity, Psi Upsilon, will reside in the new West-Edens Link, with three non-fraternity selective houses.
Burig also said that going into the selection process, he gave no weight to a house's current location. He noted, however, that the process began with Round Table remaining in its house, GG, on Craven Quadrangle because of faculty-in-residence needs. He also said that Arts Theme House would remain in its current section, after the dorm sent Moneta a letter explaining equipment and faculty-in-residence needs.
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