Social Life at Furman? Are the frats closing?

<p>We are curious about the social life at Furman. My son has seen a posting on MySpace that says something like "Don't let them fool you...they are closing all of the frat houses!". I am sure that refers to the city's recent discussion regarding rezoning which may essentially cause the frat houses (in residential areas) to have to move. So, my questions are: Are the frat houses going to have to close down/move? If so, what will the students do to blow off steam on the weekends? He really likes Furman, but we are worried about sending him to a campus that might be too sterile socially.</p>

<p>so let me get this straight. you’re worried that if 5 frats houses are closed your son who will be away from home perhaps for the first time in his life will not be able to blow off steam on the weekends?</p>

<p>ahhhhh … there are alot of things to worry about sending a child to college. this, however, is not one of them.</p>

<p>George- I don’t need or appreciate your criticism. How do you know whether or not my son has ever been away from home? How can you make a blanket statement to tell parents what they should or should not worry about? (Believe me, I am not looking for a reply.)</p>

<p>My question is whether or not the frats are closing, since he is interested in Greek life. We are not hoping for an Animal House-like experience for him by any means. But, we do have concerns that if this is the direction that the city or university are taking, that this may not be the place for him. We are looking for a good fit, and a good social balance. I’ll be happy to read whether anyone else has anything positive to contribute to this post. Thanks!</p>

<p>well sorry. I dont think you have anything to worry about in this regard. best source of info is to email one of the admin counselors. In any case, they wont stop fraternities just the houses.</p>

<p>heres the latest I found on this. looks like they are already looking for solutions. there may be some very nice new options by the time your son is in his soph or junior year.</p>

<p>03/31/2009
An end to off-campus fraternity housing? </p>

<p>Fraternity members will head to the Greenville County Council tonight to speak out against a decision they believe will negatively impact the future of Greek Life at Furman. Several weeks ago, council members were prepared to pass an ordinance that would ban fraternities from having houses in single-family districts. </p>

<p>Around 25 fraternity brothers were able to derail the decision from being made March 3 through a technicality, but county council is expected to make its decision final this evening, changing the off-campus living situation of several fraternities. While a few fraternities may be exempt from any potential new requirements, they have all spoken out against the decision.</p>

<p>The ordinance appears to come from years of complaints from neighbors, who have grown tired of what they claim are raucous weekend parties, heaps of garbage and beer cans, reckless driving, gunshots, neighborhood vandalism, and the invasion of their own property by parked cars and party-goers. Some residents went as far as to circulate photos of what they said was the aftermath of several fraternity parties.</p>

<p>The Greenville News reported that Jack Heron from Kappa Alpha and Stewart Koch from Sigma Alpha Epsilon stood up on behalf of the brothers and cited their community involvement, higher academic standards, and involvement in every aspect of student life as reasons for allowing the fraternities to stay in place. County council members also said that some of the houses may violate building codes, and could be shut down for these reasons as well.</p>

<p>While the university still supports Greek life at Furman, it has not taken an official stance on the measure. Jason Cassidy, director of housing and resident life, said, “We have an obligation to be good neighbors, and there are some examples where some of our students haven’t lived up to that expectation. I want our fraternities to operate in a way that is appropriate. Some of our students who live out in that setting haven’t met that expectation and that’s why they’re in the situation they’re in.”</p>

<p>Should the resolution pass, it appears that KA and PKP will be unaffected, as their houses lie outside of the single-family zoning areas, but SAE, Sigma Chi, and Sigma Nu would be forced to pay heavy fines, relocate to new districts or move back to campus. Finding housing in multi-family zones would likely mean moving into an apartment building or a duplex, a move that the many fraternities would probably decide against.</p>

<p>Edward Young, assistant director of north village & Greek life, said, “The houses will become a very different place. There will probably be a few fraternities that decide they don’t want to have houses anymore. Some of them are searching other options, trying to find houses within the multi-family zones. If nothing else, the house locations are going to change.” </p>

<p>Around 20 students live in off-campus fraternity housing this year, and Furman would require that any students moving back on campus participate in the housing lottery to gain spots for next year. While the university may eventually decide to create Greek housing similar to the system used at the University of South Carolina on campus, any potential plan would not be in place until any existing Furman students have graduated.</p>

<p>Thanks George, I appreciate your help on this second post.</p>

<p>it is true that many frats are in trouble with the zoning some will lose thier houses although they are trying to figure out other ways to keep the frat scene around. I know some frats are looking into other places to buy that may not be a house but wold be fine for a party. There are usually things to do so it shouldn’t be too bad next year.</p>

<p>Even if all of the houses were to burn to the ground today, we would still have fraternities at Furman, playing a large role in campus life. The houses are just buildings- we don’t even live there.</p>

<p>I have just seen your post. My son has just received an acceptance to Furman for Fall, 2011, and I have the same question you had when you posted. Would appreciate an update on the fraternity situation and social outlets at Furman.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure sororities and frats live in campus housing. There are no residential Greek houses.</p>

<p>I’m happy to see that so many folks have gotten their letters of acceptance, and are looking to find out more about Furman. Check out my previous posts for more detail on specifics, as I’ve covered a lot of things in past discussions.</p>

<p>As for the fraternity houses, let me clear up any confusion.</p>

<p>In the spring of 2009, the Greenville council decided to begin enforcing zoning rules that effectively forced many fraternities to move their houses. This led to a few fraternities having to look for new houses. For a couple, they were not affected. Now, two years later, most of the fraternities have houses. </p>

<p>Each fraternity is permitted to have four seniors live off campus. Typically, these four are officers who live in a fraternity house. Furman does not currently have a “Greek village,” or campus housing. It’s not like at other schools where 20-30 members live in the house. There are fraternity house parties, but they are not like those at state schools I’ve visited. For the most part, the parties are smaller, and less frequent. Also, underage drinking is strongly policed at most fraternity house parties. Greenville County has a grant program called “Operation Phoenix” that has led to much greater enforcement of underage drinking regulations.</p>

<p>Speaking from personal experience, most of the social life at Furman goes on on-campus, in the North Village apartments, as well as downtown at bars. I’m not in a fraternity, but I do know that there are smaller parties at the houses on a fairly regular basis. Personally, I go downtown a lot, and I also hang out with friends, both in the dorms and the apartments. The new “wet” campus policy has allowed those over the age of 21 to legally drink in the apartments, and has been implemented very successfully, I think. There is always something to do around campus, whether it be through the school, the fraternities, or just groups of friends. I’m rarely bored.</p>

<p>Let me know if that helps, and shoot me any other questions that you may have!</p>