The Lansing City Council is deliberating over a plan to fold a number of historical greek houses along the main frat row at Michigan State University into a proposed Fraternity-Sorority Historical District. As many as thirteen houses in the area were considered for inclusion, but the candidates were slowly winnowed down as newer and less historically-relevant houses were dropped from the plans. Three units date back less than half a century, which looks set to disqualify them, as do the recent renovations performed on another three properties. And the local Delta Chi may find itself out in the cold for rankly political considerations, as it is in the path of another development project, and any restrictions on its sale could be a wrench in the works.
Both the Inter-Fraternities Council and the individual chapters are ambivalent about the District. “It’s a double-edged sword,” said the president of FarmHouse, one of the greeks on the cusp of disqualification. “We’ve had a lot of great people in our fraternity, and we’d like to stick around for awhile . . . but there would be some restrictions on what we can and can’t do, and some of those restrictions could be a hindrance.”
A ruling is anticipated by the City Council this evening.
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2 comments:
Hi there:
I saw no other place to contact you folks but under an individual story.
I am amused at the official stance posted about when to use small "g" or large "G" when referring to greeks, but you make the harshest of sounds to most of our ears by using FRAT all over your site and articles.
How about using the word Fraternity? You wouldn't call a Sorority a Sore would you? I appreciate what your site is doing; I visit often and read most of the articles, but seeing "FRAT" everywhere is akin to a sharp stick thrust my eye.
Thank you for your frequent visits and taking the time to comment. We tend to share your view that the term "frat" sounds harsh and carries a somewhat negative connotation of greek life. As such, we encourage correspondents to use "fraternity," "sorority" or "greek" to refer to groups in postings. I hope you will find that to be the case throughout our writing.
That being said, we use "FRATblog" as the title of the site in service to its easy-to-remember and punchy quality; "FRATERNITYblog" has neither, and "GREEKblog" suggests a more Hellenistic subject matter. Otherwise, I hope you will find "frat" absent from the site, except in the links to other groups over whose nomenclature we have no control.
Please excuse our oversight in neglecting to post contact information when we transitioned to the new user interface. We can be reached at any time at fratblog@gmail.com, and welcome any comments, suggestions, and criticism.
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