Editors’ note: This story is the second installment of a two-part series designed to investigate the factors affecting housing for Washington and Lee University seniors. The first story in the series is available in the Nov. 18 edition of the Ring-tum Phi.

As the end of the fall semester is rapidly approaching, many have set their sights on the upcoming winter term. For hundreds, winter term brings the beginning of rush, or formal recruitment into fraternities and sororities. But rush affects more than just the social circles at Washington and Lee — it impacts the availability of already limited off-campus housing.

At the university, there are 12 fraternities and seven active sororities, both local and national. Of those 19 Greek organizations, only six sororities have housing on campus, in the form of Sorority Row, adjacent to Wilson Field. Meanwhile, fraternities have off-campus houses in surrounding neighborhoods. Only fraternities’ main houses are considered university housing.

Greek organizations often make decisions about where pledge classes will live. However, it is up to the individual members of each pledge class to sign a lease — to a house they will not live in for another three years.

“In the initial months, all the girls have to do is sign the lease they are placed on to secure a house… We try to handle everything ASAP. My freshman year, my pledge class was contacted about our lease on the night of Bid Day,” said Clara Evonsion, ’26, a new member educator at Alpha Delta Pi.

While pledge classes are initially placed in housing by alphabetical order, members are allowed to switch leases to better align with friend groups during their junior year, Evonsion said.

On the other front, fraternities use the same procedure, leaving the option to sign a lease in the hands of new members. Eli Catanzaro, ’25, a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, described the process as “not really a formal thing.”

“Typically, we get in contact with our landlord and say, ‘Hey, we’d really appreciate if you reserve a spot for [new members],” said Catanzaro.

However, the fraternity does not formally connect freshmen to landlords, Catanzaro said.

“You reach out to the people who live at the house, or you reach out to the landlords personally,” he said.

Catanzaro said that new members are not required to sign leases for any fourth-year housing immediately upon receiving a bid. He signed a lease during his junior year.

Both Evonsion and Catanzaro said that most sophomores within their respective Greek organizations lived in their designated Greek house, but both stressed how it was up to the individual to choose where to live.

“If you live in a house, it’s a good opportunity to get super close with your sorority sisters, but also in [Woods Creek], you can have the opportunity to cook for yourself and also get closer with members of other sororities too,” said Danielle Woolard, ’26, a 2024-2025 Rho Gamma.

It’s important to be flexible with your housing options, she continued. “I know [for] a lot of people, rush doesn’t go exactly how they were planning originally. And I do really think regardless of where you end up, you can find people that will be your people,” she said.

Outside of their university-affiliated houses, many Greek organizations establish ties with local landlords or choose specific houses to “pursue” for their members, said Evonsion. Well-known examples include the houses on Winding Way, known by students as the Hill. The relationships with landlords have resulted in the same Greek organizations returning to rent their properties, leading to these houses being “passed down” year after year,  Evonsion said.

In 2015, 112 houses were rented to Greek organizations, according to the “From Country to Campus” study.

Landlords have complete control over the pricing of their houses when renting to fraternity and sorority members. Based on a recent analysis of census data, the average renter in Lexington today pays $1,000 to $1,250 a month for rent.

Within Greek housing that the university oversees, the current cost per student is $9,650 per year, according to documents detailing the cost breakdown for each Greek organization.

During the process of finding off-campus housing for senior year, being in a Greek organization may provide benefits to members. Within the Lexington housing market, the wide breadth of relationships that Greek organizations can hold with local landlords can put a member a step ahead of those who don’t have those relationships.

The relationships formed within the Greek organization can help greatly as well, “since you have older girls looking out for you who know the process and have been through it,” said Evonsion.

For those who are considered “independents,” or not affliated with the Greek system, their process of finding housing may be more difficult due to competition for contracts with other local prospective renters.

Erin Brennan, ’25, who is not affiliated with a sorority, said she understands that handing down housing is “a cornerstone of the Greek life experience.” But that means that housing is “a little bit more difficult to come by if you’re not involved” in a Greek organization, she said.

Brennan said that the housing search is often stressful for independents — and filled with uncertainty due to landlords’ ever-changing availability of units. She said she wishes that someone would “make a list of landlords and help people who aren’t involved in Greek life secure housing for future years to come.”

“There really is no perfect approach to housing, and it’s often never an easy process for anyone,” she said.