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Organizations seek to lease vacated Greek Village buildings
Two fraternity houses in USC’s Greek Village are currently empty, and in the next year, both could have new occupants.
Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity has vacated its house for the semester after hazing allegations removed all but 20 members of its USC chapter in November. Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity’s house is also currently unoccupied due to the chapter’s shutdown last month for what national representatives called “recent incidents, continued neglect of the property and a failure to self-govern.”
Officials from both organizations are in negotiations to fill the two Lincoln Street houses by the fall, likely with other fraternities or sororities, but no official decisions have been made.
Lambda Chi Alpha’s USC chapter is no longer large enough to occupy its house, which is owned by the chapter’s local housing corporation. The corporation’s president, Jim Tothill, said while chapter members will not be living or eating meals at the house, they will still hold meetings and host spring recruitment activities there. He said the future of the house depends on several factors — chief among them, the number of new members recruited in the spring semester and the financial interests of the chapter.
“From the financial standpoint, it’s basically a business,” Tothill said. “It may be financially feasible for us to lease the house for a couple of years and let the chapter grow without the burden of having a house.”
Tothill said several organizations had approached him about leasing the property, but wouldn’t disclose which ones. He was adamant that whether it’s filled with Lambda Chi Alpha members or those of another organization, the house will not spend all of 2012 empty.
“The house will definitely be occupied,” he said, referring to plans for the fall semester. “Somebody’ll be living there full time.”
Sigma Phi Epsilon’s national fraternity owns the former chapter’s house, and outlined its plans in an emailed statement from the fraternity’s communications director Monday afternoon.
“Regarding the future of the Sigma Phi Epsilon facility at the University of South Carolina, we have not yet determined whether the house will be leased for the spring,” the statement said. “Our intention is to lease the facility as soon as possible to protect the investment of our alumni and preserve this home for a future chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon at USC. With living space set aside for a resident scholar as well as a large library area, we expect this facility to attract significant interest.”
When asked more specifically about the plans, the fraternity’s spokeswoman declined to comment further. However, USC’s longtime Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jerry Brewer pointed out that leasing the house during the current semester, when students have already moved into their places of living and are, in many cases, in the middle of yearlong leases, will likely prove futile.
“I’m sure they’d love to lease it out to anyone available,” Brewer said. “But how many people do you know who are in between leases, available to move in somewhere?”
The university allows Greek Village organizations to lease or sell the properties to other organizations or sell them to USC, but the university must approve the action to ensure it’s in the university’s interests.
Brewer said no such proposals had been submitted as of Monday evening.
“I can confirm we have gotten no requests from anyone at this point to lease their property,” he said.
Sigma Phi Epsilon has indicated that it plans to recolonize on campus by 2015, when all of the current members have graduated, USC Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis Pruitt told the board of trustees last month.
Editor’s note: The reporter was once a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. He dropped his affiliation with the organization during the 2010-11 academic year.