Dining plan now mandatory for Thetas, no plans for more dining communities.
Dining plan now mandatory for Thetas, no plans for more dining communities.
Some Kappa Alpha Thetas were disappointed this past month when they found that their renegotiated lease contract for their sorority house on dorm row with MIT included a new provision: all members living in the house must be on a Dining Plan. However, Senior Associate Dean for Residential Life & Dining Henry J. Humphreys said that any fears of other current cook-for-yourself communities being put on the dining plan are unfounded.
“[Theta] was a cook-for-yourself community only because there was no dining option for them previously,” Humphreys said.
The only other FSILG that the meal plan supports is Pi Beta Phi. Pi Phi began occupying the house on dorm row adjacent to Kappa Sigma, W51C, in Fall 2012. The house was renovated following the damage done in 2008 while it was previously inhabited by the now disbanded MIT Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega. During the renovations, the house’s full sized kitchen was ripped out to make room for a handicapped-accessible apartment.
“Some people think that if we renovate them, we’re going to add a dining hall,” Humphreys said. “I could see a community like East Campus being worried because we’re talking about renovating there. We’re going to be building in nice kitchens. [East Campus] is a cook-for-yourself community. There is no grand plan to change everybody over to the dining plan. A balance between the two different types of communities will always be a part of our planning process.”
—Stan Gill