Recent plans to help revitalize the U’s ailing fraternities and sororities highlight the ongoing conflict between the U, the residents of the Federal Heights neighborhood and the areas adjacent to Greek Row. Although these residents have legitimate concerns, some of these complaints involve problems that are only to be expected when living close to a major university.
The greek system has been under attack for years from various members of the U community, most of whom have never been members of a greek organization. Typically, the houses are criticized as irrelevant anachronisms and the members are stereotypically characterized as conformist and shallow.
The greeks are far from perfect but the critics fail to take into account the positive contributions the houses make in the lives of their members and to the U community in general. Ultimately, the greeks constitute such a small portion of the entire student body that most students are not that concerned about them one way or another.
One group that is concerned and has the ability to make its presence felt is, I repeat, the residents of Federal Heights and the areas adjacent to Greek Row. Their complaints about the greeks have involved late parties with alcohol, excessive noise and boorish behavior.
Federal Heights is one of the most beautiful and desirable neighborhoods in the Salt Lake Valley. The area dates from the early 1900s and has the green lawns and tall cottonwood trees one would expect in an established, high-class neighborhood. The houses are mainly classic Tudor revival homes that were obviously individually designed and custom-built. Large or more modestly sized, most of these homes exude an air of taste and quality missing from the bloated cheesy “McMansions” one finds in other upscale neighborhoods.
One other huge advantage that the Federal Heights area has is its proximity to the U. This means that the residents of the area have ready access to the tremendous variety of intellectual, cultural and sporting events and opportunities one would expect at the state’s flagship university. The campus itself is large, well-landscaped and park-like. Finally, the University Hospital and the other medical facilities provide some of the best health care in the state.
The downside to all of this is that there are problems with traffic, parking and noise (both from fraternities and sororities and otherwise) that one would not have in comparable neighborhoods. These problems are unavoidable, however, with an institution that services close to 60,000 people.
The U grew to 100 South more than 70 years ago. Kingsbury Hall and the old Physics Building as well as Gardner Hall, which was originally the U’s Union, were all built in the 1930s. Many of the greek houses likewise date from before World War II. What this means is that almost everybody now living in the area north of 100 South came to the area when it already bordered the U.
Notwithstanding, the Federal Heights area residents have long been ready to make their dissatisfactions known and to subordinate the welfare of the U community to their own convenience. In the early 1970s, Penrose Drive, which previously fed into Wasatch Drive, was closed. Later, in the early 1990s, on-street parking in the area was restricted. More recently, Federal Way was blocked, preventing access to and from North Campus Drive.
One can understand the concerns of the residents with the greek houses. No matter how much we enjoy the film “Animal House,” few of us would want to deal with toga parties in our own neighborhoods or Bluto and Flounder urinating and vomiting on the front porch. It would just be easier to sympathize with the residents if they were better neighbors themselves. On the other hand, the residents need to understand that living next to a university is different from living elsewhere.
Steve Warrick