Next year, transfer students seeking housing in one of the four
Hilgard Houses may have to look elsewhere for living
accommodations.
For the past five to six years, the university has been leasing
the Hilgard Houses from four sororities. The leases all end in late
August of this year and the university is offering to buy the
houses instead of leasing them again.
“We’re not interested in renewing leases. In this
tight financial time, we feel it is not a good use of the
university’s resources,” said Director of Housing
Michael Foraker.
The sororities Alpha Gamma Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Kappa
and Delta Zeta own the houses, and no longer have chapters at UCLA.
Thus, their houses, which were vacated when their chapters closed,
were available for the university to lease.
But though the four sororities are no longer active at UCLA,
alumni from the inactive sororities still own the buildings.
Each building is not the possession of a single owner, but
rather belongs to the corporation.
“The reason (the organizations have) held (the houses) is
probably because the property in West L.A. is very valuable, and if
you wanted to buy it back, it would cost more money,” said
Ellen Archibald, Greek adviser and adviser to the Panhellenic
Council, Asian Greek Council and independent sororities.
If UCLA does not buy the buildings, the organizations will most
likely turn them into boarding houses similar to apartments,
Archibald said.
UCLA hopes to be able to buy at least one of the four Hilgard
Houses.
“We are hoping to get some (of the houses), but we
anticipate that not all the sororities will want to sell
them,” said Office of Residential Life Associate Director
Jack Gibbons.
If the sororities refuse to sell their houses, the university
will not consider leasing the houses again.
The Housing Administration is not worried about the problem of
housing all transfer students next year since Courtside’s
renovations will be completed by fall quarter, bringing back 424
additional bed spaces for freshmen, sophomore and transfer
students.
In addition to the Hilgard Houses, transfer students also live
in various buildings on the Hill.
To further mitigate the potential loss of bed spaces caused by
any sorority unwilling to sell its house to the university, Housing
also purchased the 555 Glenrock apartment complex a month ago.
“It is a quality building in a good location,”
Foraker said.
The Glenrock apartment building ““ which can house
approximately 120 students ““ shoulders much of the weight of
housing the 150 transfer students who would have lived in the four
Hilgard Houses.
Considering that the vast majority of transfer students enter
UCLA in their third or fourth years of college, Housing officials
believe that the transfer students would prefer apartments over
residence halls.
“We think apartments are more conducive to the transfer
student lifestyle,” Gibbons said.
Even so, Hilgard residents were disappointed to hear rumors that
the Hilgard Houses may be unavailable to them for next year.
“The residents were pretty saddened to find out that the
houses might not be around anymore,” said Phong Nguyen,
president of the Hilgard Residents Association.