After a year of renting Phi Delta Alpha fraternity's property for graduate student housing, the College will not renew its lease with the house's national corporation.
Leaders of the organization could not be reached for comment and College officials said they do not know how the fraternity will use the space from now until the fall of 2002, when Phi Delt will be eligible once again for College recognition.
"I do not have any information from the Phi Delta Alpha Corporation ...as to their intended use of the facility," Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said.
Though the Office of Residential Life did not explain why the lease was terminated, Neema Ganju, co-president of the Graduate Student Council, believed that "the maintenance of the house was a big problem."
"I wasn't aware that they weren't putting grad students up there anymore," Ganju added. "That leaves less than 40 beds on campus that are currently designated as housing for all grad students."
In an interview last week, Redman indicated that the Phi Delt corporation might be interested in renovating and possibly upgrading the facilities.
"If they have a plan they have not informed us nor are they in any way obligated to do so," Redman said.
Because Phi Delt still owns the building on 5 Webster Avenue, the College has no say over the future of the house. The only obligation the corporation has is to the Town of Hanover in the form of code and zoning laws.
The original decision to lease the 14 rooms to graduate students came at the beginning of last summer, soon after the two-year derecognition of the fraternity for hazing, dirty rushing and other violations was announced.
It is unclear whether there is a market for the house outside of the College rental system because of the Hanover law that prohibits more than three unrelated people from living at the same residential address. Fraternities, sororities and undergraduate societies recognized by the College are exempt from the Hanover ordinance.
The College's suspension of Phi Delt's recognition remains in effect until the fall of 2002, at which time the national organization will choose whether or not to restart its local chapter.
