By: Megan Borella
I am not what many people would label a stereotypical sorority girl. I go to parties infrequently and I know next to no guys in fraternities. I wear a minimal amount of makeup on a daily basis, and generally shopping and most fashion-related topics bore me to tears. Yet I am in Greek life, and it has been one of the most impactful experiences I have had at UCLA.
I lived on the Hill, the colloquial term for UCLA dorm housing, during my first two years, and it was a mostly positive experience. Navigating the area was easy, the proximity to my friends outside of Greek life was unbeatable, and the food was so much better than most college students have access to. However, one of the many accessibility problems I faced was doing laundry. The machines were not accessible, as they were operated through a touch screen, which did not have a screenreader option or tactile buttons, and housing employees often couldn't understand why I was unable to use them without help. I also needed to swipe my university ID in a card reader to pay to use the machines, and naturally that system was not accessible either. Upon voicing this issue to ResLife, a coin-operated machine was installed in the laundry room I used, specifically as my accessible alternative. Alas, this relief was short-lived because, this machine was often taken by other people, frequently delaying me and preventing me from completing other tasks because I couldn't do my laundry in a timely manner. Additionally, I often put tactile markers in the form of raised dots on the laundry machines on the Hill in order to fully access the touch screen; these were frequently removed or fell off, and I had to enlist the help of friends or employees to replace them.
In my third year, I moved from the west side of campus to the east side, Hilgard, to where the sororities were. In two years, my sorority has done more to support me than UCLA was able to in more than three. Soon after I filled out the necessary paperwork to live in the house, our chapter's director of property—a student who assists in most house-related matters and communications—reached out to me regarding the accessibility of the house. She told me Braille would be put up around the entire facility and asked what else would be helpful so that I could have the same experience living in as every other member of the chapter. I was allowed to decide which room would best suit my needs, and given the opportunity to move in a day early to orient myself to my new environment before the majority of the people living in arrived. These might seem like easy ways to improve my experience, but they aren’t always intuitive for people. I'll be completely honest: when I arrived in September, I never really expected that the Braille signage would actually be there, or that every room would be labeled accurately. Much to my amazement, I was proved wrong. Everything was there; it was all correct; and, even better, it was in a location that made sense and was easy to find. It is astounding the amount of times a Braille sign is not placed in an obvious area around this campus. On the doors of many lecture halls, it will be on a nearby wall—never consistently to the left or right—and in several buildings, there is simply no Braille signage to be found. But in my sorority house, this has never been and never will be an issue I even have to consider.
Other accessibility issues I had previously faced become obsolete when I moved into my sorority. My room is right next to the laundry room, I can access the washing machines and dryers without needing help. Laundry at my house is free and the machine is mostly accessible. There’s also no chance of me getting lost or disoriented at mealtimes because all I have to do is walk downstairs to the dining room rather than to an entirely different building or up several flights of stairs. (No, Death Stairs, I don't miss you one bit!). Additionally, due to the smaller number of people and the closeness of the community, when I add tactile markers to objects, like I tried to do with the laundry machines on the Hill, they are better respected and maintained. When I put them on the communal microwave in my house, a sister messaged me when one fell off, and our staff also alerted me to the incident the next day.
I’ll admit losing that propinquity to close friends when I moved across campus was certainly a sacrifice in certain ways, the benefits have certainly outweighed the costs. I really don't enjoy that two-mile walk between the Hill and the sorority (although I did it at least twice a week my third year, and will probably continue the trend this coming year). Living a block away from the academic portion of campus now rather than a mile is a game changer in terms of navigating to and arriving on time to class. My knowledge of the campus layout has also improved, and growing more oriented to my surroundings is always a plus. Finally, the sense of familiarity and community gained through living in my chapter facility is something hadn’t found anywhere else.
Those involved in my chapter have surpassed my expectations in so many ways. Due to joining my sorority, I gained one of my closest friends, and met many other wonderful people who I am lucky to know. I have a readily available network of women I can reach out to whenever I want or need to. And I have the privilege of living in a beautiful house surrounded by awesome people and an unbelievably amazing, dedicated staff who go above and beyond for not only me, but for everyone who lives in the house.
Originally Posted: 30 July 2019