62 Comments
In the ongoing saga of the brownstones, the Brownstone Review Committee to allocate the empty houses met for the first time this week.
There have been a two developments. First, Daniel O’Leary resigned from the committee. Says O’Leary, “I have decided to step down because an organization that I have been affiliated with [SAE] has applied for a brownstone.” This leaves the committee with four Greek-affiliated students and two non-affiliated students.
Second, the list of applicants has been released and the decision has been postponed until November 30th because there are so many. Dean Terry Martinez sent us a list of the 13 applying groups:
- Alpha Chi Omega
- Alpha Epsilon Pi
- Application Development Initiative
- Lambda Phi Epsilon
- Manhattan House by NAC
- Music House
- Phi Gamma Delta
- Pi Kappa Alpha
- Psi Upsilon
- Q House
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon (O’Leary’s conflict of interest)
- Student Wellness Project
- Writers House
That’s all for now, but we’ll cover this more.
Where we’d secretly rather be living via Wikimedia Commons.
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62 Comments
@Lit What’s the point of a Writers House when we already have a literary frat?
@has spent time at said "literary" frat HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@Anonymous writer’s house might not be perfect, but it’s better than ADP at books n shit
@Dan Greek life does way more for campus than most student groups.
@lol Dan
@wait.... this isn’t Dan the CA is it?
@THINK ABOUT THIS: if AXO gets a house, sorority recruitment can take place in the sorority houses AKA NOT OUR LOUNGES!!!!!!! everyone wins. huzzah
@Anonymous Why are outside organizations allowed to have the Brownstones when both General Studies and Barnard have severe housing shortages?
@confused What “outside organizations”? They’re still Columbia students. The spots they would have occupied in the dorms will go to students who wouldn’t otherwise get housing. There’s no net gain or loss, right?
@Anonymous CC and SEAS have not had significant issues placing students into on campus housing, whereas GS and Barnard have had large housing shortages this year. GS could not house almost half of all students who applied for on campus housing and Barnard had to break its housing guarantee this year. Barnard and GS students, as a result, should be prioritized in housing, as those colleges need it more than CC and SEAS do. If a student organization got the Brownstones, then yes, it would give all Columbia students an opportunity for housing, but it would not be prioritizing those from the colleges that have housing shortages.
@Anonymous This is Columbia Housing though. Theoretically, Columbia can designate these brownstones as GS housing, but the system is separate from Barnard housing (different budgets) and will never go towards Barnard housing unless Barnard buys it from Columbia. Hence why Brownstowns, EC, etc. can never be majority Barnard – it’s Columbia housing period. I feel for Barnard students, but it’s not Columbia’s problem.
@PHILO PHILOLEXIAN SOCIETY!
seniority > greek life
@anon Go AXO
@ban frats on campus! this is a no-brainer…frats are so fuckin phony with their “philanthropy.” join the DDC if you care. it doesn’t cost $500 a semester or ruin Columbia.
@Anonymous not sure whether to like or dislike this comment
@lol currently pictured writer’s house sandwiched between pike and psi u
@Educate yourself There’s Metta house, which is already a vegetarian/vegan house.
@The Helpful Vegan (CC '14) Yes, but it’s not 100% cruelty-free. So maybe YOU should educate YOURSELF.
@Anonymous Paper is cruelty free. THINK OF THE TREES YO. Looks like you’re gonna have to throw out those books. And what about those vegetables that you consume before they get a chance to procreate? You’re essentially breeding them to be killed. Think of those poor tomatoes. :(
But seriously, go live out in the woods alone if you want to segregate yourself from “all of this “cruelty”. You speak of tolerance for vegans? Where is your tolerance for people who eat meat? Calm yourself with some bacon
@The Helpful Vegan (CC '14) WOW. Hostility much? Your carnicentric cruelty-driven lifestyle has obviously affected your hostility/aggression levels. Are you male? You probably beat your girlfriend/boyfriend. I’m sure they serve meat products in prison, so you should be happy: that’s where you’re going to end up. Would you “tolerate” someone killing a child in the street or on the subway? What about a FARM full of children being raised to be murdered? I bet you’d love to kill some children. Columbia is FULL of SICKOS like you. I hope you get the help you need and start making some SANE AND SENSIBLE dietary decisions in your life TODAY! Peace, love, and tofu.
@The onlooker You’re either a complete twat, or an amazing troll. Either way reading your shit is hillarious
@a really really hot gay boy i can’t stand lesbians.
@Lets give everyone a fair shot This is getting a bit ridiculous.
1. The people that applied were likely chosen because they are all really involved on campus. Whether they are Greek or not, they must have what is best for the community in mind. I am sure that there are other organizations/clubs that are also over represented, but because they are not greek organizations they have not been highlighted. With all of the bad press that resulted in the past, I am sure the university is not jumping at the opportunity to put new greek organizations in, and the fraternities and sororities applying will have to prove, if not more than other groups, that they are deserving of a house.
2. I joined Greek life fairly late, as a junior. I had a significant amount of time at Columbia outside the Greek system, and had my own preconceived notions before joining. Before becoming more involved, I did not realize how much Greek organizations truly do on campus. Events are geared towards the entire community, and are very rarely exclusive. I totally understand why the Greek community is not right for everyone, but why put down the people who have found a home there?
3. The groups that have submitted applications seem to be awesome. I think in the end the decision will come down to who will continually be able to fill the brownstone, who will get the most benefit from it, and how will the new residents be able to impact the community positively. In the end, I assume it will go to some mixture of Greek and non-greek groups.
Honestly, best of luck to everyone. I hope all of this pettiness stops.
@soror squatzzz So…no one ever goes in the sorority houses. Even the members don’t spend much time in them. They don’t have parties for anyone/everyone. Their events are rarely “geared toward the entire community”, except for maybe THETA BIRTHDAY TONITEEE see u there every1 lolzz
@Anon TL;DR
@Anonymous “Events are geared towards the entire community, and are very rarely exclusive.”
This is completely untrue lol really.
@Anonymous You sir, don’t know a thing
@confused “Events are geared towards the entire community, and are very rarely exclusive.”
I have friends in Greek life and I’m sure that, as a member of Greek life, the events seem really open, but they’re not. With the exception of rush events early in the semester, a handful of open parties, and certain philanthropy events, everything is Greek-only mixers or impromptu parties open only to members of a certain frat/sorority and the people they invite. Obviously, frats/sororities have the right to control who they let into their houses…but don’t pretend most parties are open.
@Jerry Sandusky I like little boys
@how is this even a question it’s obvious that if frats get the houses, they’ll just be reconsumed by greek interactivity. if other groups get them, they’ll have events that everybody can go to
@Yeah, how is this even a question? @how is this even a question: You mean the Greek events that all students are invited to? Pretty sure out of all those groups, Greeks are the most diverse and community oriented.
@Mmm I don’t follow your logic. I think anyone can go and get raped at a pike party.
@You're so clever Good one. So original and witty. You forget to add that “Frats” are full of stupid kids as well.
@CC Senior Is there perhaps a way for students to submit opinions? You know, like how some special-interest groups will submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court when it is hearing a case. I feel like this is going to have an impact on everyone, there should be a way for students to submit, in writing, their opinions.
@Anonymous yeah. if it’s about what’s best for the community, the community should have a voice.
@Anon …Why would anyone downvote this?
@why somebody would downvote that because they’re in greek life. it is to their favor for this be a closed process, since they have a majority of the committee.
@... there they go again
@Anonymous The key to trolling is a little bit of subtlety, y’all.
@The Helpful Vegan (CC '14) There REALLY needs to be a meat/cruelty-free safe space for vegans, fruitarians and other people concerned about sharing a cruelty-free living space. I’m SO disgusted by the number of Columbia students who wear leather, eat meat, and live cruelty-driven and carnicentric lifestyles that surround me in my current housing situation. If we can’t ban meat and cruel foods along with products that are basically generated by murder, there should AT LEAST be a floor in every campus building that is 100% cruelty-free!!!
@BC '15 You troll.
@The Helpful Vegan (CC '14) Excuse me? Just because I happen to live a lifestyle that doesn’t literally leave the blood of thousands of animals on my hands and I’m not shy about talking about it doesn’t make me a troll. I’m not trolling or starting a flame war: just trying to help people open their minds and eyes to the very real horrors perpetuated by the meat, fashion, and dairy industries. You might think about doing some research on the subject yourself before going around accusing people of trolling. Peace.
@Anonymous You’re no better than evangelical Christians forcing their beliefs on everyone else. You’re entitled to your beliefs, but shut up and stop forcing them on others.
@Van Owen Delta Psi, bitches. Saint A’s represent!
@between the lines way to get dat SAEbro to quit, bwog
@Anonymous truth to power
@Anonymous What is Q House?
@Anonymous and Manhattan House by NAC?
@CC '16 Q House is a special-interest housing group exclusively for LGBTQ+ students.
@anon oh, so now we stuff them into the same dorm? isn’t this the exact opposite of how equal rights regardless of sexual orientation is supposed to work?
@anon How is that any different from a Jewish or Asian fraternity? It’s about shared identity.
@anon but from the way the CC’16 said it, Q house is EXCLUSIVELY for LGBTQ students. the jewish/asian fraternities are jewish/asian-interest, and while they attract a lot of jews/asians, they are not exclusive.
@Anonymous Those fraternities are Asian-INTEREST and JEwish-INTEREST. There focus is on culture, community building, philanthropy, etc with a particular focus. Like Q House , allies are welcome.
@Right! Let’s sequester campus diversity!
@Van Owen Sounds gay.
@Anonymous Stuffing a bunch of LGBTQ students into a brownstone and calling it Q House (or Queer House I’m guessing) sounds like the recipe for a terrible MTV reality TV show.
@Anonymous wow, not sure how this comment is controversial. I’ve known a couple people in the suite that serves as Q-house, they’re a fun group. it’s not like straight people can’t live there if they want. Lots of times people with stuff in common want to live together–is this really a new idea to anyone?
@Anonymous Why do they need a Brownstone to live together? How do they add to the community at large?
@Anonymous Let’s just skip the whole safe-space debate since we all know where this is going. They’re people with something in common who want to live together. Like any other SIC they put on programming around their chosen theme which just happens to be LGBTQ identity.
@Anonymous To quote the great Lee C. Bollinger, “Sometimes building a sense of community on campus means being around people outside of your comfort zone–people that are different from you.” Not to say that having a community of LGBTQ students isn’t important in its own right but I think what would be far more important for Columbia in it’s current state would be having a housing opportunity that bridges students who–despite sharing some, perhaps more diluted, commonalities–represent a diverse group including, but not limited to, members of the LGBTQ community, Native American Council members, etc. It seems to me like this would be far more effective in breaking down barriers among these different communities than introverting each of them. Now whether this means creating another frat house or something a bit more ubiquitous like music house or writers house, I’m not really sure…
@Anonymous Also the prezbo quote was partly in jest
@Claire Allies are also welcome to apply to Q-house. The “+” is LGBTQ+ includes like a million other letters, including A for ally (straight people who support LGBT rights).