To their members, UCLA’s Greek houses are more than a place to sleep ““ they also reflect the history of the organizations.
Some of the sorority and fraternity houses date back to the early 1920s while others were built and renovated more recently because of physical damage, the members’ changing needs and dry spells in recruitment.
Troy Bartels, the Greek adviser in the UCLA Center for Student Programming, said most of the houses were built around the same time, and at its peak, there were 26 sororities on Hilgard Avenue reaching down to Le Conte Avenue.
“As far as I know, most of the sorority and fraternity houses were originally built with the intention of housing Greek students,” Bartels said.
One of the earliest sorority houses at UCLA was built in 1924 for the Alpha Phi sorority, five years after UCLA was established, said Laura Davidson, a UCLA alumna and member of the Alpha Phi House Corporation Board, which owns the property.
The history of Alpha Phi’s house closely follows the path of the sorority, with changes in the house reflecting the growth of the sorority and the needs of the sisters.
“The Alpha Phi house has been renovated several times, most notably in the 1960s when a new wing was implemented to accommodate more students,” Davidson said.
According to an Alpha Phi quarterly article from 1924, the residence was designed to be “Spanish with a colonial feel.”
But the house is currently being remodeled because the lifestyle and needs of UCLA students are dramatically different than they were in the 1920s, Davidson said.
Maiten Mowreader, the president of the Chi Omega sorority and a third-year political science and Spanish student, said her sorority house was the first at UCLA and carries significant value to the sisters.
“Walking through the house, we are constantly reminded of the generations before us that lived here,” Mowreader said.
“There are pictures hanging that date back to the 1930s and 1940s (that) show parts of our house that still look similar today.”
Chi Omega also keeps in contact with older alumni and recently held a reunion for women who had graduated 50 years ago.
“(The women) were so excited to see the changes that had been made but pleased to see some things about Chi Omega never change,” she said.
Some sororities and fraternities do not currently live in their historic homes because of factors such as dry spells in recruiting and physical damage.
Zeta Psi is one such fraternity which has seen damage to its house and a decrease in membership in the mid-1990s and no longer inhabits its historic residence ““ but the house still holds an important connection for its members.
“We are looking forward to a time when we will have a new house built,” said Scott Timpe, president of Zeta Psi and a third-year economics student.
Zeta Psi, which Timpe said was once one of UCLA’s most active fraternities, went defunct in 1994 and ended up vacating its historic premises at 611 Gayley Ave. and renting it to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
“We rented the property to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity until we decided not to extend their housing lease and made the decision to renovate the property,” Timpe said, adding that the Zeta Psi fraternity had planned to move back in to the house after the renovations.
But Timpe said the fraternity is unable to occupy 611 Gayley Ave. because a tree damaged the property during renovations in fall 2004.
Other fraternities, such as Sigma Phi Epsilon, have also had to adapt to the changes affecting sorority and fraternity houses.
“We live on (Landfair Avenue) now in a brand new building,” said Ben Hejna, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon and a third-year psychology and economics student.
But some fraternity or sorority members no longer living in their historic houses still find meaning in the old residences.
Timpe said he hopes one day that 611 Gayley Ave. will house a large chapter of Zeta Psi because of the long history the fraternity has shared with the building.
“Every day I personally walk by the property and am reminded of the rich history of our chapter and strive to work to make sure that we are a thriving chapter when our house is ready,” he said.