What’s it Like to be President of a Sorority and Handle a House of 16?
What’s it like to be the president of a sorority and handle a house full of 16 girls? You would think that the president of the sorority doesn’t have to worry about the sorority house and it’s issues, however, in the city, it’s a whole new ball game.
Since our house is really a 3 flat building that was constructed to combine all 3 floors, it technically isn’t a typical sorority house that you see at all the big schools like U of I or Indiana. Those homes have about 50 girls under one roof! Since there are so many girls and the house is so big, there is more funding for it. This means that these homes have cafeterias and “house moms”. A house mom is an older woman who lives in the house and makes sure the rules are being followed and cleaning duties are intact. In case no one knew, there are MANY rules that come with living in a sorority house. Some of the major ones are “no alcohol” and “no boys”.
Fortunately, we don’t have a house mom. We have Chelsea, our president! She is a senior at UIC and lives in the house with us, making sure everything runs smoothly. Below, I have included an interview with Chelsea on what it’s like to be the president and also the “mom” of the house. Check it out.
AP: So, what’s it like to be in charge of 40 girls?
CS: Ummm (giggles)…it can be tough. I’m a architecture major, so I am more busy with being in the studio than with anything else in my life. It’s hard to balance sometimes. I try to be a good president and also a good friend. I think in the past we have had too many presidents that get a sort of “power trip” when they know they are in charge of so many girls. I try to keep my head leveled and know that its just a position that I will hold for a year, but in the end these girls are my friends. I don’t know, I have a position to uphold with many standards set by nationals. If I don’t preform my position right, it makes me look bad. So when girls act out, I have to crack down. And the attitude that I get when I crack down sucks…but it all comes with the position.
AP: Do you think being president has changed your relationships with any of the girls?
CS: Oh yes. I think many of the girls don’t realize that this is my job and I can’t always be nice and lenient. It affects my image and the image of this sorority. I want to make sure everyone is doing the right thing and following rules or else where would this sorority be. I realized my relationships would change when I decided to run for this position. I even wrote it in my speech, remember?
AP: Yeah. How have your relationships changed?
CS: I just think girls get offended if i send them to JBoard (Judicial Board- for punishments) or if i say they owe fines or late fees. So they get really snooty with me at first, but by the end of the day everything is fine. I just wish people would understand more that there is a line between friendship and business. I have to get the job done somehow.
AP: I hear ya. What’s it like being the “house mom” figure for the house?
CS: Oh jeez! Making sure everyone follows the rules? So hard! How many times have I caught girls trying to drink in the house? Or having to make sure no boyfriends sleep over? A lot, wouldn’t you say? I mean, girls get mad at these rules but they decided to live in the house knowing these rules existed, you know? I just don’t want nationals to show up to our door one day and do a house raid and find liquor everywhere. We could lose our sorority at UIC, and of course our house that took us 3 years to make national! It gets annoying trying to be on top of everyone for their daily chores and then having to fine them if they don’t complete the chores. I mean I have experience with that since I was housing manager last year, but now I feel like I’m both!
AP: Would you ever take back your position?
CS: Ashley! What kind of question is that? Of course not! I’m so happy I took this position. It has taught me so much about myself and about others. I think living in the house 3 out of my 4 years here at school has been the best decision I could have ever made! Don’t you agree?
AP: Oh yeah.
CS: It has taught me so much about myself and about others. Living with 16 girls in a 3 flat…I mean come on! Who can say they’ve done that before? You learn how to take care of yourself, while being courteous to others. You learn so much about yourself and how you live. It really gets you ready for the real world. As far as the leadership position, I am so glad I took it. It’s taught me responsibility and authority. I love it. And I love you girls!
AP: Aww, we love you too! Thank you for your time!
CS: Of course! Get a good grade!
Add a comment October 31, 2009
Squeaky Clean Sorority House :)
Hey guys! I’m blogging again tonight because I didn’t get a chance to last night. Tomorrow is “Clean the House” day…and after a night like tonight, you can understand why. This is when all the girls in the house sit down and talk chores. Yes..CHORES! What? Just because we don’t live under the roof of our parents anymore, you think we can live as freely as possible? Yeah right.
Our house houses 16 girls. I mean, this place can get pretty messy! Tomorrow (and every other Friday) we gather in our living room and discuss the hygene of the house. Okay, so everyone doesn’t get the wrong impression- we are not pigs. Lol! But we like to keep a clean house! 
So I have the kitchen this week. It’s the messiest part of the house! Some of the girls get creative (I’m talking Pippy Long Stocking creative..with scrubbers as slippers!) We have to clean the egg off of the window from the frat boys awesome Halloween prank (from the previous post). We usually get one of the boyfriend’s to do this job. Girls are assigned to the stairways, common area, dining room, bathrooms, and kitchens. Basically it’s a long day of girls getting woosy off of bleech fumes and headaches from loud music blasting through the rooms. I’d say a typical day in our house is walking past every room hearing a different song playing off of each girl’s lap top. It’s awesome…kind of.
Anyway, now you know how we clean our 3 floor house in less than 2 hours! Can’t wait to start scrubbing tomorrow!
Add a comment October 30, 2009
Tags: bleach, Chicago, Clean, House, soroity, UIC
Ever Carved Pumpkins in a Living Room with 40 Girls?
Hello all!! I’m seriously LOVING this blog thingymajigger! I figured I’d share a more happier story this time! This time it involves my three favorite things: Halloween, my birthday, and my roommates!
Today we had a pumpkin carving event in our living room! There was about 40
girls (our whole sorority) anxiously awaiting the chance to carve pumpkins lol. We had a little contest to go with it- whoever carves the best pumpkin wins a gift card to Starbucks! Anywho, has anyone carved pumpkins before? Well if you have, you know how SMELLY of an activity it is. So imagine 40 pumpkins being carved in our living r
oom! I can smell it still. :-/
My birthday is actually at midnight so while we were carving pumpkins (I was REALLY into it) the lights turned off and everyone started singing “Happy Birthday” to me! Of course I turned BRIGHT RED and as I looked up, the girls were carrying a birthday cake with candles! They had been baking it downstairs on the first floor the whole time we were carving pumpkins. Wasn’t baked all too well, but ya gotta give them credit! Definitely made my day! This just shows that s
Sororities aren’t all caddy like many people think they are. The girls I live with have a strong bond with each other. So the story is getting kinda mushy, I know, and what do ya know, there’s a twist. As soon as everyone finishes singing, we hear loud noises on our windows.Guess what comes with Halloween when you are a sorority house? Fraternity boys and eggs. Yes, the frat boys egged our house as a yearly ritual for Halloween. Thanks guys. I guess boys will be boys. Now we have egg all over our windows AS WELL AS the stench of pumpkin all through out our house. I know we are a sorority, but let me tell you something…our house definitely doesn’t look or smell like a sorority house right about now lol. I’ve posted some pics
so you guys can check out the pumpkin carving! I’m pretty proud of mine. Enjoy!
Some of the girls carving.
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Yay for my pumpkin!
Add a comment October 30, 2009
Tags: Birthday, Boys, College, Eggs, Fraternity, Girls, Halloween, Pumpkin, Sorority, UIC
Living with 16 Girls beats The Real World any day!
Alright people, so I’ve been thinking for a while that the house that I live in definitely deserves to be televised SOMEHOW. I mean, I live with 16 girls. Yes, 16 girls….in Chicago….in ONE building. It’s great at times, don’t get me wrong, but it’s my third year living here and I have enough stories to last me a lifetime!
First off, to clarify, it’s not like a brothel or anything, it’s the first sorority house in the city. We found the house 3 years ago and the landlord was a contractor who turned all 3 floors of the building one huge apartment. The house officially became a “sorority house” by our national headquarters this year! Yay for that! Okay okay I know you guys don’t care about how we got our house lol. Let’s get down to fun stuff- the stories.
So over the weekend I was coming home with my roommate, Roxanne. You guys probably know her from class. Tall, blond chick? (I’m also in her room writing this. Kind of funny!) So as we were getting out of my car, we saw some guy running through the park across the street from our house. He ran through the park and crossed the street to run towards our house (kind of behind our building). I looked over at Roxanne and said, “Doesn’t it look like that guy just mugged some one?” She rolled her eyes at me like it’s something I always say lol. Then all of a sudden we look in the park again and see a unmarked car driving through the grass and onto the sidewalk. You can only imagine what our faces looked like. THEN we see some guy running through the park after the car with a GUN! Yeah, a gun! It was a big one too. So we finally realized that it was a cop and the car was a cop car. We got out of my car just as about 5 squad cars pulled up. Then a bunch of cops got out of the cars and told us all to go inside because there was a GUNMAN on the loose. Yeah, imagine or faces at this point. So of course, we are laughing and running into our house telling everyone what is going on. More squad cars pull up and you just see the cops with guns searching down our street and in our backyard. So being the nosey girls we are, we go out to our back porch and watch the cops searching our alley. Apparently the gunman was hiding out in our alley!
It was really SCARY to know that there was a fugitive gunman in our backyard. I feel like it would only happen to the house where 16 college girls lived. Good times. It was definitely an experience I’m glad I shared with 8 of my roommates at the time. Oh, and I have pictures (because I always take pictures!) Check them out! Toodles!
Cop cars in front!
Cop cars to the left of the house!
Add a comment October 28, 2009
Tags: Chicago, College, Crime, Girls, House, Police, Sorority, UIC
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Add a comment October 26, 2009
