Second-year students had to move out of the Ohio Zeta chapter of Phi Delta Theta back into residence halls after the fraternity’s registration was revoked in November 2019. Credit: Max Garrison | Lantern Reporter
Between fraternity suspensions and housing exemptions, first-years who want to live in Greek housing should first check if their chapter house is the right STEP for them.
Ohio State requires all full-time students to live in university-approved housing for two years following their high school graduation unless certain exemptions are met. Some but not all fraternity and sorority houses meet requirements for approved housing under the Second-year Transformational Experience Program, Dave Isaacs, university spokesperson, said.
Throughout the course of STEP, students work with their peers and an adviser, where they are given up to $2,000 in funds from the university to embark upon or complete a culminating second-year project, according to previous Lantern reporting.
“We want to make sure that students who are living in Greek housing have the same access and the same support for their academics that a student would have living on campus in one of the residence halls,” Isaacs said.
Twenty second-years were moved from the Ohio State Zeta Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta house into residence halls following the fraternity’s Nov. 8, 2019, suspension, Isaacs said. Phi Delt was one of three Ohio State fraternities to have its registration revoked in November; however, it was the only one whose second-years moved back into the residence halls.
Isaacs said instances like Phi Delt’s suspension follows university housing protocol.
The other two fraternities suspended in November, Sigma Pi and Zeta Beta Tau, were not allowed to house second-years to begin with because they did not meet STEP requirements.
STEP approval is a “purely voluntary program” for fraternities and sororities, Isaacs said.
Fraternity and sorority houses must have common spaces dedicated to studying for at least three hours per day, including during the evening, according to the university’s Greek Housing Standard. They also must publish and maintain quiet hours in conjunction with the studying times.
Each bedroom in a fraternity or sorority house is required to have at least one desk for residents to use to complete schoolwork, according to the report. One desk must be present for every three students assigned to the bedroom.
The houses must also provide a reliable internet connection of adequate bandwidth that covers bedrooms and living spaces, according to the housing standard.
Each chapter must employ a live-in adviser who is approved and hired by the university. Isaacs said the advisers are essentially hall directors for the fraternity or sorority house and cannot be immediately graduated students.
“It is recommended that this individual be at least one year removed from their undergraduate experience,” the housing standard states.
