Girls living in fraternity houses may seem like a foreign idea to some, but for graduate students Kate Wadas and Erin Arnold, it’s part of their job.

Wadas and Arnold are the new Student Affairs Residential Fellows living in two fraternity houses on the campus. They replaced the old house directors in Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Sigma Phi.

Residential fellows are in charge of maintaining and overseeing university facilities, said Bob Nichols, the assistant director in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, who deals with Greek facilities.

Because the university owns the houses, Nichols said the residential fellows provide accountability and oversight so the facilities don’t suffer. He said the university didn’t hire the previous house directors, which at times, he said, brought the quality of the houses down.

Nichols added the residential fellows to provide a connection to the Office of Greek and Sorority Life.

Wadas and Arnold said their responsibilities so far have dealt mainly with ensuring a smooth move-in.

“Basically I’m responsible for the management of the facilities,” said Arnold, the residential fellow at Delta Tau Delta. “The house was just re-done over the summer, and I’m responsible for keeping it in good condition.”

As for being the only female in the fraternity house, Wadas, the residential fellow at Alpha Sigma Phi, said “It was hard to get used to sharing space when we do dinner or chapter meetings. It’s a little bit uncomfortable, but we’re trying to get used to it. Since I don’t have to share a bathroom or any actual living space, it’s not too big of a deal for me.”

Arnold, who said she was involved with Greek Life when she did her undergraduate work at the University of Arizona, said she loved the experience and wanted to stay involved with the Greek community.

“The guys here are great,” she said. “They keep me entertained and on my toes all the time.”

“Personally it takes some weight off my shoulders as far as responsibility to have someone else there,” said Robert Ackerman, president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. “A lot of the guys were skeptical, but I think once they met her things turned out for the better.”

Ackerman said he wasn’t sure exactly what role Arnold would take as the semester progressed, but added she would help out with financial and social advising.

Andrew Gendreau, the president of Alpha Sigma Phi, said Wadas would act as a liaison between the fraternity and the Greek Life office and help out with advising.

He said there hadn’t been any negative reactions to having Wadas live in the house.

“No one has had any complaints,” he said.

Nichols said the process of replacing house directors with residential fellows has been on-going. He said Lambda Chi had the first one about four years ago, and by next year he hopes to have replaced all but one house director.

“We didn’t want to fire house directors,” he said, explaining the reasoning for phasing the residential fellows in slowly.

He added he’s happy with the results so far and said the residential fellows created a win-win situation.

The fraternities get an advisor and liason, and the university’s property gets taken care of so future generations of students will have places to live, study and be with friends, he said.

Contact reporter Jess Milcetich at milcetichdbk@gmail.com.