Five years ago, a program house displayed a sign to the campus community — independents keep out. Though the sign's brazenness is yet to be matched, some independents living in program and Greek houses feel the sentiment still exists.
Shared spaces are — by their very namesake — questionable. Independents often complain of limited access to kitchens and lounges. But program house members rebuke such critiques, saying doors are always open to all.
Transfer student Luis Lazo del Sol '12 was placed as an independent his sophomore year in Olney House, home to Theta Delta Chi. "Thete is stereotypically not accepting," del Sol said. "People were verbally harassing me as I was walking up the staircase."
"None of us wanted to be part of the group," he said. "There was an unwritten treaty — we ignored them, and they ignored us." Occasionally, a few brothers would come to the independents' suite and hang out with them, but in general, there were "very clear boundaries," he said.
Independents in Marcy House do not have key access to the members' lounges and are instead given key access to a lounge of their own. Aisha Cannon '14, an independent who chose to live in the house with her friends, said independents essentially keep to themselves. "If you don't know anyone, there's probably not going to be an active effort to get to know you," she said.
Members benefit from extra study spaces, games and other resources that are not all available to independents, she said.
But that's not to say independents are banned from members-only areas, said Nathan Van Winkle '13, public relations chair of the Greek Council and a member of Zete.
"There's a very strong community because of the frats," he said, and it is up to the independents to forge friendships. Community Assistants set up events, such as Open Mic Nights, that anyone in the house is more than welcome to attend.
"Typically, you have problems because it's not clear who gets which common areas,"said Clara Kliman-Silver '13, a Community Assistant in Harkness House. "There's a conflict over ownership of space."
Independents are often confronted with the aftermath of parties thrown in program and Greek houses, she said. Though parties are thrown in members-only spaces, "problems have emerged with noise complaints, smells, people vomiting in the hallway," she said. "These parties are frustrating for some of the independents who don't have connection or interest," she said.
But others say program and Greek house members actively go above and beyond to reach out to independents.
"One of our biggest priorities is to make sure the independents are comfortable with their living situation," said Shawn Medford '12, president of Delta Tau last year. He said the DTau brothers make an active effort to get to know their independents and "encourage them to come hang out with us."
"A lot of hate gets lumped on (fraternities)," Van Winkle said. "You have an institution to vest your frustrations on, even though it may not be warranted. There is a larger perception of issue than there is actual issue."
"I can see people not knowing a lot of their neighbors. I don't see them being excluded — I see them maybe not wanting to interact," said Araceli Mendez '12, the president of the Greek Council and a member of Zeta Delta Xi.
"I think it's more we keep to ourselves because we're not in the frat. They're not actively trying to ostracize us," said Steven McGarty '14. As a transfer student, he was forced to live in Olney due to overflow housing, which he said may have influenced his feelings about being an independent.
"You have different types of independents — the ones who actually pick the housing and wanted to be in this type of environment, then you have people who sort of got put there because they didn't have housing for us," he said. "I feel isolated a little bit because I was placed there rather than knowing people on the floor. I haven't had anyone come and introduce themselves."
Other independents have had strikingly different experiences.
Michael Speaker '13 and Huy Dao '13 were both independents in Sears House in their sophomore years and are now members of Phi Kappa Psi.
Whenever Phi Psi threw events, "they'd come around to all of our doors, knock on our doors, invite us personally," Speaker said, adding there was no real trouble with boundaries.
Dao agreed. "They were concerned if we were experiencing any difficulties with the noise, if we were being disturbed."
Speaker attributed his desire to join the fraternity to the experience he had as an independent. "We saw how great of a group of guys they were," he said. Dao currently rooms with an independent. "He feels welcomed," he said. "It's never an issue."
Though problems still exist, ongoing progress is visible, Kliman-Silver said. "On the one hand, this has been going on for a while. On the other hand, people are finally starting to speak up about that. People have taken the initiative to see what the boundaries are, what space belongs to us. There's been a lot of cooperation."
The crux of the issue is that both "the program houses and the frats want to say, ‘This is my building,' but there are other people in the building who want to call it their own as well," she said.
Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services, said he has not recently received any complaints of independents being mistreated.
