Houses need to be filled

Six greek houses sit empty across campus, either because of disciplinary action taken by IU or the national organization. These vacant houses are eyesores on campus and should be used in the interim period when a chapter is unable to occupy its house.\n Leasing the house to another chapter, as Theta Chi is currently doing to Tau Kappa Epsilon, is likely the best solution to a temporary problem. For houses to remain boarded-up and empty for two to four years is unnecessarily wasteful. The houses also present a health hazard because vacant houses are not inspected by the University, the City of Bloomington or Monroe County. \n While there is little the University can do to fill houses it might have emptied, officials should encourage their continued use -- or at the least, proper maintenance -- by the owners. The national chapters of each fraternity or sorority usually hold the property deeds, and IU officials can only prevent certain uses by the owners. \n"The University holds the use and transfer restrictions on the property," said Lynn Coyne, assistant vice president of university real estate and economic development.\nThe University has approved the use of two houses by non-greek organizations. The School of Informatics will use the old Alpha Omicron Pi house at 10th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, and the Christian Student Foundation will occupy the old Alpha Sigma Phi house on North Jordan Avenue. Both of these are steps in the right direction, but using greek houses for greek organizations is preferable.\nTwo houses are being renovated for use this fall, but others still remain. Sigma Alpha Mu has remained empty since spring 2000, Beta Theta Pi since the summer of 2001 and Pi Kappa Alpha since this January. Kappa Alpha Psi, on 17th Street near Bill Armstrong Stadium, has been vacant since the 1990s. \n"There were not enough people who could live in and (financially) sustain a fraternity house," Dean of Students Richard McKaig told the IDS. He added that the IU chapter was the first for the fraternity and it holds sentimental value for the national organization, making it unlikely to sell the property.\nHouses should not sit vacant indefinitely. The University should encourage their use, and national organizations should see them occupied.