Greek houses deemed inadequate

Millersville University’s houses—such as the Montour House, Perry House or Armstrong House—used mostly for staffing, are, according to a recent investigation by Patrick Weidinger, Safety Officer for the University, inadequate for the purposes of Greek life.

Jerry Broneic, interfraternity council president and secretary chair in Lambda Chi Alpha, has been involved with this issue and has personally talked with the Student Affairs Office to resolve the issue.

According to Senior Broneic, some time ago unidentified individuals used the basement of the Armstrong House inappropriately, leaving behind ash (from either a fire or a grill) and used cans. The incident started an investigation by the University.

Prior to the incident, the zoning laws were either neglected, unknown or not enforced.

After the investigation, there were limits placed on the use of the Armstrong House in accordance with the zoning laws—laws which limit the number of individuals allowed per floor to seven—rendering it useless to Greeks.

“We, [the Student Affairs Office and I], talked about a couple of possibilities such as rezoning or possibly moving to another house,” Broneic stated.  “But no such decisions have been made and we are still trying to work out a solution.”

“Because of age and deterioration of the house,” began sophomore Stefanie Kulczyckyj, the president of panhellenic council. “Only seven people are allowed to be in the Greek House at any one time. This is not beneficial to the Greek community because we are not able to have any type of meeting where more than seven people are expected to attend.

The Armstrong House is being repaired after it was misused by unidentified individuals. Photo by Carla Anderson.

“Currently, the issue of the Greek House has been looked upon after the Greek community wrote letters, and hopefully in the near future we will have an official Greek House again,” said Kulczyckyj.

The Greeks have sent letters to Dr. Aminta Hawkins Breaux, vice president for student affairs, asking her to help find a solution to the current situation with the Armstrong House, reported Dwight Horsey, interim Assistant to the vice president for student affairs.

Angela Simmons, director of student programs and Marsha McQuate, assistant director of student programs, have been involved with investigating the issue and have reported to Horsey that, upon Weidinger’s inspection, the house was found to not be zoned for large gatherings.

His report stated that “the reality is, these old houses were never designed or intended to be used for large public gatherings. Those types of events should have been held in…buildings which have the space, life safety and fire safety systems, the proper means of egress for large crowds, and the structural integrity to handle large crowds.”

With five fraternities and six sororities on campus, a designated “Greek house,” which is currently located in the Armstrong House on Frederick Street, seems a necessity.

However, MU’s houses are zoned for a maximum seven individuals per floor, and having Halloween parties and “large gatherings”—which could be anything from mundane meeting to a study group—are not just ordinance issues but are also “life safety issue,” according to Weidinger’s report.

“I have spoken to some members of the Greek organizations and am working with Marsha and Angela to find some other suitable location for them to use,” said Horsey. “That’s where we are with things.”

The Armstrong House will continue to be the Greek House.

The Student Affairs Office has not mentioned when, if or where the move would occur.

Kulczyckyj feels that it is only fair, in light of the community service that both the IFC and PHC provide, that the University provides a Greek house; or allow the Greeks to, possibly through Habitat for Humanity, build their own dwelling place.

“Even though the Greek community is only 2 percent of Millersville University’s campus community, we are always helping out and giving back to Millersville and the Lancaster community,” said Kulczyckyj.

“It gives me pride to know that my chapter and all the sororities and fraternities on campus are reaching out and giving back, and helping whenever and wherever they can.”