A proposal is currently in the works to have Greek housing built along La Jolla Shores Drive, southwest of Revelle College.

“I want to change the stigma about the Greek community,” Greek Housing Initiative Committee Chair Michael Raimondi said. “You have members in your chapter who are involved on campus who are actively bettering the community. All of these positive things are occurring on a daily basis and they aren’t being actively advertised.”

The committee has set three phases for the proposal: Phase one establishes Greek housing while phase two and three add student organizations and sports teams to the housing community.

“Housing will be opened up to all student leaders,” Raimondi said. “Their organization may not have alphabetic letters across their chests but they’re still a community … We have 23,000 students who all care about 23,000 different things and form groups — they should be allowed off-campus housing as well.”

According to Raimondi, each chapter interested in a house would be able to receive one under the proposal. Housing payments would be similar to the dorms, where students pay for their room and not for the entire house. The chapters would decide which amenities will be included

The proposed area along La Jolla Shores Drive is six to eight acres, but housing would take up two to three acres for the project. As of yet, there is no visual representation. Raimondi hopes to create a housing community that best accommodates student life at UCSD. There are currently no estimates of the total cost.

After receiving student input from Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council, which Raimondi said were supportive of the initiative, the committee decided to draft the proposal.

“USC, Berkeley and UCLA all have Greek housing and each of those schools have a very fun social scene,” Kappa Kappa Gamma member Sarah Tehrani said. “In fact, I think if this school had Greek housing, it would make the Greek system less ‘exclusive’ and also more accessible.”

Raimondi will soliciting opinions to see what the Greek community wants on paper. He will be visiting college councils, provosts and deans to discuss how Greek members can help the colleges lessen the stress of meeting on-campus housing demands.

Raimondi has been discussing the idea with several administrators, including Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue, and said they have been receiving positive feedback.

“This hasn’t been brought up to the administration from a student perspective from a formal level before, that I know of,” Raimondi said.

Raimondi said the administrators’ opinions have changed dramatically since last spring.

“The university is listening and they are on board,” Raimondi said.

The committee will research costs and funding source once the proposal is approved Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, and a university task force is created for implementation.

The proposal will also be submitted to A.S. Council, every vice chancellor and Housing and Dining Executive Director Mark Cunningham.

The committee is aiming for a $60-million project, since the Chancellor approves projects under that amount. In addition to funding from the university, the committee hopes to create funding connections with Greek alumni.

Originally, the housing idea was met with a lot of negativity. Students were skeptical, even in the Greek community.

“Greek housing in any form would be nice,” Alpha Epsilon Pi member Kian Lavi said in an e-mail. “But the actual ideas of having houses is unrealistic, mostly because there’s no way it would be done before we graduate, so there’s no point in us worrying about this.”

Eventually, Raimondi wants to expand beyond the Greek community. Citing a complaint on a lack of strong community on the 2005 Undergraduate Student Experience and Satisfaction survey, Raimondi wants to create a campus that is interconnected and involved through off-campus community housing.

“On the other hand, Greek housing would really improve Greek life as it would cut down on drunk driving,” Lavi said.

Greek advisors have shown interest.

“Greek housing would be incredibly beneficial for UCSD,” Alpha Epsilon Phi Advisor Rebecca Kilroy said. “Even if it was dorm-style, with different floors being different chapters, it would be something over nothing!”

Raimondi also wants to make the Greek system more accessible.

Raimondi said in the past, students attempted to create Greek housing, but administrators shot it down, saying it would not be fair to the entire student body unless housing for all six colleges was completed and they were offered more than one year on-campus.

Raimondi said the committee does not expect the implementation of housing immediately. The committee’s goal is to get housing built by 2016.

“There is no one set mold,” Raimondi said. “I really think this could happen. If not now, when?”