Every fall, high school seniors from all over the country visit the Pace University NYC campus during prospective student days. Usually, these events will offer some form of activity fair in the gym, where extracurricular clubs and organizations are invited to set up camp at a table and entice prospective students to join our community.
I’ve been active in my sorority for a year and a half now, and I’ve always enjoyed tabling at these events. I try to do it every time the opportunity arises. It gives me a chance to spend time with my sisters, meet some of the girls who will eventually wind up going through the sorority recruitment process, and do my favorite thing in the world: talk about my chapter. Sometimes a lot of people show up, sometimes only a few people show up. But no matter what, I always get the same question from at least one curious parent: “So, how does being in a sorority work here?”
It sounds so vague, but I’ve come to understand exactly what it means. When they’re really asking is, “what is it like to be a part of a sorority that doesn’t have a house?”
Because we live in New York City, we do not have sorority houses for either of the NPC organizations on our campus. Pace doesn’t offer a Greek themed floor in any residence hall, where sisters from same organization who want to live on campus together can convene in one small, shared space. So how does being a part of a sorority without a house function?
All of our recruitment spaces have to be booked months in advance. We recruit in our school’s largest shared spaces, which are currently a conference/event room and a student lounge—sometimes a lecture hall if we can’t book the rooms we need. Every Monday, we host our chapter meetings in the largest lecture hall on campus. Our philanthropy events are typically hosted in the gym or another common area on campus. Finally, the only one place you’re sure to find ten or more of us on any given weekday is the library.
I won’t sugar coat things: not having a house makes things hard sometimes. We don’t have the luxury of a private space to recruit, hold chapter meetings, or perform our sacred rituals. In that respect, we lose the intimacy of a chapter that lives in a house that’s been on Greek row for decades. It also makes planning things difficult, as most of the rooms at Pace are reserved well in advance. If we’re hosting a larger philanthropy event, having the right room is imperative which means we need to book our rooms as soon as we’re able to. And of course—who wouldn’t just want to live in a big house with their sisters? It’s like a year-long slumber party with 100 of your favorite people!
At the same time, being a part of a sorority without a house can be a blessing. Our dues are literally over 10 times cheaper than what they’d be if we had a house. That means we get more money in our pocket to do things around Manhattan with our sisters! It also eliminates a very competitive aspect of recruitment and the Greek life scene on our campus in general. Instead of feeling the need to impress PNMs with the most beautiful house on campus, we can focus more on our sisterhood and our philanthropies. At the end of the day, we really don’t need a house. We find time to get together every week through chapter and sisterhood events, and we’re always spending time in the library together. Sisterhood events are made especially easy and fun since we live in Manhattan. Instead of doing yoga in the backyard of our house, we get to do yoga in Central Park—I think that’s amazing.
Above all, I think being a sorority woman at Pace is unique for this reason alone: since we don’t have a special place of our own, we get to make all the ordinary things at Pace special. The lecture hall I have to sit in for my history of media class on Wednesday nights is the same lecture hall where I celebrated my bid day. The classroom where I had math last year is the same classroom where I was pinned as an active sister in my sorority. The conference room that hosts business fairs every week is the same room where I first met my big, and the hallway on the fourth floor is where I became a big myself. We get to see the school in a way nobody else here can, and I think that’s the most special part about being in a sorority at Pace.
So, to anyone out there asking about how sororities “work” at Pace: it doesn’t work perfectly… but getting to experience Pace the way we do makes everything worth it.