The Greek Housing Expansion process is a subplan of the Master Plan, said Thomas Morrison, vice president of capital planning and facilities.
The 2009 Master Plan was set in place as future planning for the building, renovating, remodeling and repurposing of facilities on campus, according to the IU Master Plan website.
However, this did not address greek housing.
“We’re always looking at long-term needs of the University,” Morrison said. “All of our development in the future is based on need and then we have a Master Plan that has building sites in case we do get that need.”
All expansion programs, such as academic, research or residential, are driven by need, Morrison said.
If greek chapters demonstrate the need for expansion they would go through a lengthy vetting process with the Dean of Students and the Student Life and Learning Center.
If they were approved, IU Real Estate would determine if the chapter had a stable and sustainable membership and were financially equipped for a house.
This type of university support for greek housing is not prevalent on campuses nationwide.
“I think that for the Indiana University [greek] community the housing component is such an important part of that experience,” Johnson said. “That is not true on all campuses.”
Most universities are physically incapable of expansion as they are landlocked, said Julie Johnson, chairwoman of NPC Panhellenics Committee.
IU’s Master Plan foresaw expansion. Possible expansion sites include, but are not limited to, Jordan and North Jordan Avenue, where fraternities and sororities currently sit, Morrison said.
“We want to always be prepared that if the need develops in anything, that we have a long term plan that allows us to address it so that we don’t have to be reactionary,” Morrison said. “We don’t have to make a planning decision in a rush that maybe isn’t as well thought out.”
At IU, the demand for greek housing only continues to grow, Johnson said. This year, a 23rd sorority will be added to campus, meaning IU will be host to 23 of the 26 national chapters. IU currently has the most Panhellenic chapters on campus than any other university, Johnson said.
Greek life has been growing across campuses nationwide.
Sororities across the country have seen a 10.6-percent increase in membership in this past year, Johnson said. Chapter size and interest in starting new chapters has grown as well.
New fraternity members nationwide have increased by 7 percent in the past year, according to the North-American Interfraternity Conference.
“It’s been a booming period for greeks across the country on most campuses,” said Doug Maden, executive director of Phi Kappa Sigma’s national office. “I think with that boom has driven the need for additional housing. I commend Indiana University for the forward thinking to meet the need of the greek community.”
