Greeks discuss house dues

When students join the greek community, they owe more to the house than time and commitment.

Joining a greek house can rack up hundreds to thousands of dollars in monetary expenses.

Freshman John Hildreth, a current associate member, also known as a pledge, in Delta Upsilon, doesn’t have to pay these dues yet, but he said he knows they’re
coming.

“Right now, I’m not paying as much, but I got an email from a guy in my house saying they’re going to send a bill to my parents,” Hildreth said.

These dues can vary from house to house.

“Right now, I know DU is not one of the most expensive,” Hildreth said. “There definitely are some fraternities that are more expensive than others, like Beta (Theta Pi).”

Some fraternities can cost thousands more to live in the house, such as Phi Kappa Psi, said junior Pat Snyder, Phi Psi’s treasurer.

Initially, new house members must pay a $900 initiation fee in Phi Psi, Snyder said.
If the student chooses to live in after this, the price jumps from $900 to $4,970 per semester.

This bill is twice as much as the fee for living in a dorm.

 According to the Residential Programs and Services website, a standard double room in a dorm costs around $4,700 for an entire year. 

“It seems like a pretty overwhelming amount,” Snyder said via email, “but once you break it down, it actually goes pretty far. This fee covers room and board, Internet and cable for the semester, in addition to all of the fees associated with the brothers who do not live in.”

These are the official fees, which associate members don’t pay until initiation.

Upon first pledging DU, Hildreth said he paid a small fee of about $40.

“They didn’t really tell us where it was going for,” he said. “They gave us a little textbook about the fraternity. Some of it will go toward a pledge class party or something, some sort of event they might throw for us.”

Hildreth said the associate members have different kinds of fees to pay before initiation that relate to the pledgeship process.

“I know that for our pledge class you have certain dues you have to pay,” Hildreth said. “Like, we have a gas one, because you know that we’re all drivers once. So, whenever there’s a party, a pledge will be using a brother’s car.”

Hildreth said each associate that drives adds a little gas to the car before or after driving to help cover the cost.

“We all have to chip in for certain things,” Hildreth said. “I know it’s going to stuff for us, whether that be party supplies or things we need to wear or whatever.”

The dues associated with fraternities and sororities don’t solely go to events. They also go to national chapters or funding for the IU house.

Snyder broke down his fraternity’s dues.

“Only roughly 1 percent of the live-in brothers’ dues are fees that are paid to national headquarters and IFC,” Snyder said via email.

This breaks down to roughly $60 out of the nearly $5,000 per semester.

“The vast majority of fees that brothers pay goes toward things that the brothers directly benefit from,” Snyder said. “Meals at the chapter house, Phi Psi campus functions and then room and board.”

Senior Dionna Seddens, treasurer for the sorority Theta Nu Xi, said much of their dues go to nationals, since her sorority doesn’t have a house.

The chapter dues vary based on the number of girls.

“It mostly covers funding for our events that we might put on throughout the year,” Seddens said. “We’ll have a leadership panel or discussion. Or sometimes we try to do little fun events, like a party. It just depends.”

Seddens said she has mixed feelings when it comes to paying dues to be part of a greek house.

“For national dues, I really don’t see why exactly we have to pay dues for that,” she said. “We’re not really seeing the money. But as far as chapter dues, there is a reason for that. It helps us a bunch.”

If students can’t pay for the fees, Snyder, Hildreth and Seddens all said payment plans are available for students.

Hildreth said even though the dues can be expensive, the perks of being in a fraternity — good food, living with best friends, having chefs and cleaning services — make the cost worth it.

“It sounds kind of selfish and rich and preppy,” Hildreth said. “But you have to work hard for it in your pledgeship, and it’s worth it. Most definitely, it’ll be worth it.”