After contract deadline, sororities asked to leave suites

When students moved into Pitt’s dormitories this fall, Amos Hall offered a stark contrast. It’s… When students moved into Pitt’s dormitories this fall, Amos Hall offered a stark contrast. It’s empty this semester. Amos Hall, which traditionally houses all of Pitt’s sororities except for three, is undergoing renovations this school year, and its habitants have been relocated. While Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Zeta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Kappa Delta, Sigma Delta Tau and Sigma Sigma Sigma sororities have temporary homes in Bruce Hall, Pitt hasn’t decided what changes it will make. Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that the University Property and Facilities Management Committee will vote on potential renovations in October. Until the plans are approved, there can be no official renovation, he said. He couldn’t state exactly what the women should expect when they return. While Fedele would not comment on specifics, both Panhellenic adviser Kara Petro and Ronald Gray, assistant director of leadership development and greek affairs, said the bedrooms and bathrooms will be renovated. ‘They’re installing air conditioning, redoing wires, basically gutting and re-doing the bathrooms, kitchens and lavatories, but leaving the chapter room and living and sitting rooms,’ said Gray. He added that construction is going to last for about one year. ‘Ideally, [until] June ‘mdash; likely, July, given the way construction goes,’ he said. ‘Then, the girls will come back to a wonderful new space next August.’ Pitt says the time is right When Pitt acquired Amos in the 1950s, it was an apartment building. In the ’70s, Pitt sectioned it off to be designated as female residence halls. ‘Since then, there have been updates, but nothing major,’ said Gray. The completion of Ruskin Hall last spring gave the University 416 additional undergraduate beds, said Fedele. ‘We realized that the opportunity of having Ruskin to house overflow gave us the flexibility to do the renovations now,’ he said. But the women who agreed to live in Amos were not told of the change until after they had signed their housing contracts for the 2008-09 school year. Sigma Delta Tau sorority president Susan Domsic, Delta Phi Epsilon sorority president Shanna Duffy, Delta Zeta sorority president Francee Varner and Fedele confirmed that the sorority members scheduled to live in Amos Hall were notified that they would be moved after they had signed their housing contracts. This occurred during finals week last spring, said the sorority presidents. ‘I received a phone call during finals week last semester asking that I attend a housing meeting for Panhel,’ said Varner. ‘I was walking into a final, so I sent a younger girl in the house, not realizing how important the meeting was.’ Domsic said, ‘The building was old and falling apart ‘hellip; [it] needs a facelift badly.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ But Domsic said she felt upset. ‘I understand that the situation was one that they had to do, and do quickly, but it still sucks,’ she said. This is her last year in her sorority’s suite. Varner added, ‘As a senior, I won’t actually see any of the changes myself, but I do feel it was worth it. Having lived [in Amos] before, I can tell you that the bathrooms are begging for a revamp.’ The University waited to begin construction until after the sororities finished their recruitment on Sept. 23. ‘No walls are down,’ said Petro. ‘The rooms are still intact, and the girls are able to use the suites for recruitment.’ Fedele said that the University chose to delay the start date because ‘the sorority presidents wanted to use Amos Hall for recruitment and had requested the delay.’ Now the sororities have to find another home for their rituals, executive board meetings and sisterhood meetings, which they previously held in their respective chapter rooms in Amos Hall. Duffy said that the presidents requested the use of rooms in buildings on campus, including David Lawrence Hall, the William Pitt Union and Wesley Posvar Hall. Varner said, ‘Reserving a room was simple, and I think our meetings are actually more efficient than they were in the past, when people were sitting all over the place.’ Sororities adjust to living in Bruce Apart from adjusting regular meetings, the move to Bruce Hall has caused its sorority residents to change their living styles. Bruce is not apartment-style housing like Amos, and many of the women have had to get larger meal plans now that they don’t have stoves. Sisters who don’t live in the sorority dormitories can swipe into Bruce Hall but cannot swipe into their respective sorority’s suite, as they could in Amos Hall, said Delta Delta Delta sorority sister Teenie Gameos. Delta Phi Epsilon sister Rebecca Stark said, ‘It is making the sorority more divided because you do not go into someone’s suite unless you are friends with them.’ Also, Duffy said that ‘to an extent, you don’t see commuters as often as you did in Amos.’ Duffy and others are trying to remedy the challenge and hold ‘sisterhood events’ on Sunday afternoons, like gathering sisters to watch movies. In attempt to make the sororities feel at home in Bruce Hall, the University gave each sorority a private wing and painted the sororities’ letters and colors on the walls at no cost to the sororities, said Fedele. Also, the University gave the women a discount if they wanted to upgrade their meal plans because of the lack of stoves in Bruce compared to Amos. ‘ ‘We sat down with the presidents of 10 sororities and showed them where their sororities would fit,’ said Fedele. ‘The presidents of the sororities were involved in the process.’ He added that it was the presidents themselves who were allowed to make the room assignments for their sorority sisters. ‘ ‘We miss Amos, but Bruce isn’t that bad,’ said Duffy. The move to Bruce will not affect Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, which is located off-campus, Theta Phi Alpha sorority, which is traditionally in Bruce Hall, and Theta Nu Xi sorority, which has no official residence.