Behind the Scenes of Plattsburgh Fraternity Living
Plattsburgh House Party Bathroom Photo
Letting a group of boys live on their own away from home, a mess is bound to occur. But do we really know what living as a fraternity brother in Plattsburgh is like?
At SUNY Plattsburgh I had noticed that a fraternity house, Sigma Tua Gamma, that I lived by was vacant. To my curiosity I had asked a Sig Tua brother about the situation.
“There was no care for the house for years and years which made the house inhabitable,” the Sig Tua brother shared. He expressed to me that black mold had been making them sick and support beams were almost snapped in half with lack of help from their landlord. More horrors came when they tried to clean on their own, but no matter how many times and how hard they scrub the smelt stayed and everything was still “gross”.
Now I had lived with my actual brother when I was younger, and I knew that boys could be messy, but this was a different level. Yet at Plattsburgh, I believe the student housing may not be able to live alongside its party lifestyle in this case.
Most people’s weekend fun starts on Friday, but Plattsburgh students believe the early bird gets the worm, and the fun typically begins on ‘Thirsty Thursday.’ With so many days to the weekend, I was curious to see how wild it could get during a party.
This September I found myself entering a party at Alpha Sigma Phi. From the outside the house is big, and the darkness of the night helps hide its broken-down features. I then discover getting onto the porch is an obstacle in itself, as me and my friends hop over the broken pallets leading to the first step. We luckily are able to dodge the foot-sized holes in them, but have seen drunker people fail trying.
Getting onto the porch there is always a brother on ‘door duty’ to decide who can come in or not. Normally these brothers “on door” are telling guys that don’t have enough girls with them that they have a “bad ratio,” need to “take a lap,” or the famous “name five brothers.” They get to decide who is going to be let in, using the facebook invite they sent out as a “list” of sorts. Luckily we know the people that live there, and got a warm welcome when heading in.
Immediately after getting inside all of us felt the warm humidity of the party take over the house. Straight into entry I was able to see four rooms to put down our jackets and any extra drinks in. We find a brother we know who doesn’t normally lock his door to shove our stuff in hidden places. Leaving anything out in the open is a dangerous game, as it can result in getting your stuff stolen from another member of the party.
On exit, we can immediately enter the party itself, because it’s being held in the kitchen, around the corner from entry. Thankfully, we took our jackets off to now swim through a wave of sweaty, stumbling, screaming people that are trying to master the ‘frat flick’ or ‘throwing it back’. The crazy lights flashing make it hard for us to find our way to a place near the “elevated surfaces,” but push and shove till we make it.
We stand next to the stage, where we dance and sing songs we haven’t heard since childhood, all mashed into a remix. However, I don’t know if ABBA had planned to have a fraternity guy press play for a distorted version of their song, to then be loudly projected among a kitchen of people trying to stand on the counters.
Going to the bathroom is always a tough decision. There is going to be a line that feels miles long as you do the pee-pee dance. Of course at one point my group of five fell victim to the line. Although only one had to go, we all finally made it into this walk-in closet sized room.
Frat bathrooms can be compared to an outhouse, with foot prints on the floor and dirty walls somehow. Away from the music, we are able to hear our shoes stick to the ground with each step as we then look upon the just as disgusting toilet. Our options were limited and the tub was occupied by crushed or empty cans, so my friend hovered. My group and I were scared to touch anything, and had to use hand sanitizer because there was no soap. But luckily, they did have a lock (not very common) that we used until we went back to the party.
From my experience, I expect a kitchen to have a table, fridge, and a sink – which they had, surprisingly. That night I saw a pong/die table the brother made to play drinking games on (I’ve also seen them use that table outside on nice days). I had been suggested not to open their fridge and told “we don’t really use that one” by one of the brothers. The sink had empty cans thrown in there by people who didn’t want to use the full garbage can.
These frat parties can last an hour or two, as people typically call it a night around two in the morning. But the real party goers can stay up later and experience “afters.” This is a time after 2 a.m. where people can explore further into the house. People get food, sometimes leaving the remains wherever there is surface, and won’t see it again till the next day.
The brothers’ rooms are not as dirty as the party, however. With about eleven bedrooms, they invite people to hang out and drink. Yet it’s still recommended to keep shoes on. Each room is as clean as the brother who lives in there makes it. Many have direct places for everything, with blankets folded and pillows fluffed. It’s not until they step out of their room that they don’t care as much.
Sadly, like every good party, it must come to an end at one point. Sometimes, in the early hours of the morning, they finally fall asleep. Letting all their cans, spills, and food be a problem for them to deal with later.
To my findings, it was safe to say that it was a clean freaks nightmare. But it’s not just Alpha Sigma Phi’s house that looks like this. Another frat on campus, Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), has someone manning their stairs because of so many problems with random people disrupting and stealing from their upstairs.
Alongside them, Chi Phi, had no door to their bathroom, causing people to make a wall for their friend to relieve themselves. They also have a couch area called the ‘swamp’ where you don’t want to lose your phone in case you have to put your hand in the cushion with everything else dropped there before.
All these frats tell me that they love living with their friends, yet do admit it’s not the cleanest. Through all the dirt and filth, they still have each other and a helping hand to clean tomorrow’s mess. So I recommend, if you want to live like these Greeks, just buy a hazmat suit and shower shoes, and you should be good.
apnmag.com 