Two residence halls – 2109 F Street and Mount Vernon’s Merriweather Hall – will become all-female housing next year, after the University announced in December that the current all-female option, Strong Hall, will be converted to sorority housing next year.
Seth Weinshel, director of GW Housing Programs, confirmed the changes this week, and while interviewed residents of Strong say they are relieved there will be all-female options next year, some said the new options are not as nice or desirable as Strong.
Sophomore Asifa Habib said that 2109 F Street is not as appealing as Strong because it does not have single rooms.
“You learn to live with it,” Habib said of the change.
Many of the residents in Strong live there for religious and cultural reasons, as they can take off their hijabs – traditional Muslim head scarfs – and relax and unwind without worrying about being in the presence of male students.
Sophomore Zahra Khan, who has lived in Strong for two years because of the safe haven Strong provides, said 2109 F Street will be a good option for students like her who choose Strong for cultural reasons. She added, however, that many of the residents of Strong are sad that future GW students will not get to experience the community Strong provided.
“We are very possessive of our home,” Khan said. “Strong already feels like our sorority. There is always stuff happening.”
Khan said she thinks the new options will serve GW’s female students well, but said she has a feeling of “jealousy” that sororities will inhabit the space next year.
Alyssa Mizell, a sophomore and Strong resident, said she is also relieved that there will be an all-female option next year, but said 2109 F Street does not have the type of community space Strong has, or even basic amenities, like elevators.
Mizell added that because Strong Hall houses freshmen, the building’s residents get housekeeping – a service that will not travel to 2109 F, as that option will house second, third and fourth-year students.
Strong currently houses 116 women in both single and double rooms, and is labeled the culture and arts house on campus, providing a piano lounge and rooftop deck for students.
Though two smaller buildings are replacing the residence hall, Weinshel said the new all-female housing options will house approximately the same amount of residents.
“It is a few more [beds] than Strong,” Weinshel said.
The two sororities being offered the space in Strong next year, Chi Omega and Pi Beta Phi, both accepted the University’s offer to live in Strong, and are currently communicating with GW Housing Programs about making changes to the building to better suit sorority life.
Victoria Hartman, president of Pi Beta Phi, said her chapter is grateful to the University for giving the organization space in Strong Hall.
“Pi Phi is extremely excited about the new housing opportunity and is looking forward to defining the space and making it our own,” Hartman said. “The Greek housing replacing Strong Hall will essentially function as horizontal townhouses, giving Pi Phi the opportunity to house many girls together and access to vital common space. With the extra space and amenities, Pi Phi will be able to further grow as a chapter and establish a home on campus.”
But Strong resident MiJung Kim said she still holds some resentment toward the Greek-letter community for taking over the residence hall she has felt so comfortable living in.
“I appreciate the fact that the school has arranged a few places designated [for girls],” Kim said. “For those who have to live with only girls due to religious reasons, they might feel better about that. At the same time, I wonder how many girls live in Strong not because of the fact that it’s a girl’s dorm, but also because of the convenient location and single dorms.”
She added, “I really don’t like the fact that Strong will change to a sorority building and that I can not live there anymore. I really don’t.”
