Sorority failure cause for concern
Bv LINDA STEPHENS
and
and ROBIN STEWART Kansan Staff Writers
As Alpha Omicron Pi sorority moves off the Hill this fall, you may ask whether fault lies within KU's Greek system, or is an individual house problem.
The AOPi sorority house will close Oct 1. Its 11 members will move into apartments, and the house will be put up for sale by the local AOPi Corporation.
Nine Panhellenic representatives and two AOPi's from Arkansas State University helped
KANSAN features
the KU AOPi's this fall with rush. Despite this Greek unification, the rush was unsuccessful.
The number of KU women participating in rush the last couple of years has remained constant, the dean of women's office reports, although nationally the number joining the Greek system has declined the past several years.
10 KANSAN Sept. 23 1969
An increasing number of KU juniors and seniors are moving out of Greek houses. In one fraternity pledge class of 30, seven juniors remain in the house.
Fraternity men move out because of lack of privacy and independence, personality conflicts, poor grades and high living costs. Sorority girls list marriage and education training elsewhere, such as student teaching and medical school training, as reasons for leaving Greek houses.
These reasons, along with a large graduating class of seniors, were problems which plagued AOPI's, reducing membership from 30 last spring to 11 this fall.
"The problem is not the AOPi's or KU's, but one of fraternities in general," said one AOPi. One Penhellenic rusher said this incident does not indicate a trend in the Greek system, but is one of the system's weaknesses.
"They (AOPi sorority) do things like us," said the Panhellenic rusher. "It's sad that rushees would prefer status to benefits and opportunities of Greek living."
bership was taken too late, a third Panhellenic representative said. Rushees' awareness of Panhellenic aid in the rush may have scared them off.
Another Panhellenic rusher said the AOPi's small membership indicated a lack of status. Rushees were looking for security, and when they saw something that wasn't working, they wouldn't commit themselves.
The AOPI's denied financial difficulties contributed to closing the house since the local chapter has national chapter support.
Action to build up house mem-
One AOPi said the sorority could have stayed on campus, but couldn't perpetrate a good
Sorority living $300 extra
What's the difference between living in a sorority house and a residence hall?
About $400 a year.
image with such small numbers.
Figures in the 1969-70 Panhellenic Handbook indicate it costs $300-400 more a year to live in a sorority house than in a KU residence hall.
The AOPi's organized at KU in 1918. Formerly called Beta Gamma sorority, the two-women
While the cost of living in a residence hall is listed in the University catalog as $900 a year for room and board, the Panhellenic Handbook lists average sorority expenses as $20, pledge fee; $75 initiation fee; $35 pin; $115 monthly house bill; $150, house corporation fee; assessments up to $35, and optional expenses ranging from $10-30.
membership petitioned for a charter and pledged eight girls. Membership doubled in the first rush.
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