by Eileen Cartter

It’s that time of year again. Last Friday, Housing and Residential Life and the Housing and Dining Committee (HDC) accepted 16 of the 17 applications they received for theme housing next year, granting accommodations that span from north to south campus. Of those 16, the two new Greek organizations on campus — Phi Kappa Tau and Alpha Sigma Tau — received rooms in Caples and Bushnell Residence Halls, respectively. The committee turned down the KAC Heads, who were reapplying for theme housing.

This year marks a new initiative regarding theme housing, in light of past “passivity from the … [HDC] as far as like, ‘Oh you had a theme house, OK, you can have it again,’” Phoebe Roe, an HDC member as well as a staff writer for the Collegian, said. “We’re trying to really lock it down and make sure that people who are getting a house are going to be using it well.” Next fall, the HDC will begin conducting evaluations to ensure that theme houses are sticking to the plans they outlined in their applications. “We were really careful to outline specific expectations we have for each house,” Roe said, so that next year’s HDC “will know exactly what the theme house agreed to at the beginning of the year.”

“If they’re not living up to their expectations, then [we’ll] take the housing away,” Roe said.