I am in an underrepresented chapter. My sorority has pairs, sisterhood events, alumni and everything else that all the other chapters at my school have. So why are we so mistreated? It is incredibly simple: we do not have a house. 

At my school, the Greek community is huge, and all but three sororities have a mansion on campus. A few years ago, IU decided to expand Greek life by adding new Panhellenic chapters to the community. My chapter has only been on campus for about three years, so it makes sense that we are not in a house yet. What does not make sense, however, is how some other chapters treat us.  

“So, are you a real sorority?” I have heard this more times than I care to admit. Yes, I am in a real sorority. We are a Panhellenic organization with chapters all over the country. I know all of my sisters, and I would not change a thing about them. 

Fraternities lose their houses all the time. Not once has someone questioned their legitimacy. What makes us different? 

As an unhoused chapter, recruitment is increasingly difficult. This year, Panhellenic created a new registration website for all the potential new members (PNMs). Neither my chapter nor any of the other unhoused chapters had pictures on the website, while some housed chapters had three or four pictures of them in the homepage slideshow. Many PNMs are not open to the idea of an unhoused chapter, so we need all the positive marketing we can get. 

Recruitment troubles do not stop there. New recruitment rules state that chapters cannot have decorations for one of the rounds. The housed chapters are naturally pretty, but my chapter is supposed to compete with that by having an empty assembly space? Also, when other chapters give girls tours of their houses, a PNM is given the opportunity to see herself as one of them. We should be able to show a video that shows where we live and how great it actually is to be an unhoused sorority. 

These recruitment issues do not only apply to unhoused sororities. During fraternity recruitment this year, Bro Gam groups sometimes skipped certain unhoused chapters because they were deemed less important by that Bro Gam. 

Why are unhoused chapters so horribly treated? Most of us are new on campus and already have had to work our butts off to become a chapter. The least some more established chapters could do is welcome us into the community and support us. 

I will be the first to say that there are some amazing housed chapters that have been nothing but supportive of us. But let’s stop pretending that we are not treated differently. We are being told that we are less a part of the community than other chapters. And what kind of a community is that?