A Fraternity Moves In Next Door
The Night Club
The night club reference used to describe the house next door was accurate when Sigma Pi moved into it. People came and went at all hours of the night, and with frequent disruptions, sleep was scarce from Thursday through Sunday. It felt like having a newborn baby—constant yawning, grogginess, and feeling grumpy. The disruptions varied from music to drunk yelling as they made their way from vehicle parking at the back of the property, stomping up a flight of stairs, and slamming doors at the side of their house, just outside our bedrooms, as they entered the house. People would come and go throughout the night and there was constant door slamming. Then, there were the loud conversations as the tenants and their guests came out onto the deck to urinate over the side or sounds of vomiting off of the deck from too much alcohol. But once you are up and awake, that’s it. You’re up. Now you have to try to get back to sleep again. Life sucked.
First Encounter
My first encounter with the fraternity guys next door happened in the evening after I arrived back home after a long day shift. They had just moved in, and a party was in full swing. Since I was getting up early the next day to go back to work, I walked next door to ask them if they could keep it down. They said they would, apologized, and said it was someone’s birthday. I appreciated that, and one of the guys gave me their phone number. After many “birthdays” every weekend during successive weeks, we became suspicious and soon discovered they were an illegal satellite fraternity house. At first, communication was done via text; when they were loud, we texted, and the disruption sometimes ended with the party moving to another one of their satellite fraternity houses just up the hill.
Not Welcome
Our final civil communication happened when we had an issue with one of their guests vomiting in our yard. My wife noticed a female guest was extremely intoxicated and went over to see if she was okay and then went to speak to one of the guys next door. Ultimately, it led to a conversation with two of the tenants and trying to resolve issues. During the conversation, it was made abundantly clear that we were not welcome in “their” neighborhood. One response was, “My parents would never be as stupid as you guys; they would never buy a house in this neighborhood”.
The thing is, the non-student residents have been here all along, before the illegal fraternities moved in, choosing to exist in this eclectic, vibrant neighborhood. It’s the illegal satellite fraternity houses that have been allowed to flourish, that don’t care about the negative impact on the neighborhood. Simply put, the house is just accommodation for them while they go to college. Who gives a rip? That’s the general feeling I got while trying to have a conversation with them. They also didn’t seem to understand that we weren’t the only people affected by their noise. They didn’t want to hear of it. We were the problem.
Just move!
Another remark was, “You should move.” A member of a different fraternity also made that remark that same year. It’s their neighborhood. The negative impact of a fraternity is why the city does not allow fraternities to operate in R-1 and R-2 residential neighborhoods. It is in the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code.
Despite the exodus of long-term residents, many still live in the neighborhood. Most current long-term residents cannot simply sell their homes and relocate. Some are elderly, some have built their dream house, developed and nurtured their yards over the years, and don’t want to move. Why should they have to? Some fear retaliation and don’t speak up. But the constant noise, disruptions, and other issues of living near dozens of illegal fraternity houses have made their lives very difficult. This would not have been allowed to happen if laws had been enforced by the city.
Retaliation
After the final hostile communication, we walked away, knowing that if there were future issues, our only option was to call the police to report their loud parties. And the fraternity eventually got a noise citation at around 1:15 a.m. on 3/12/2023. The next day, my wife’s cell phone started getting spam calls from car dealerships from all over the country trying to sell her a car. Ultimately, she would receive hundreds of spam calls and texts. Various religious organizations contacted her to confirm their scheduled appointments. Craigslist ads appeared, advertising free stuff at our address. She received notifications she had a sexually transmitted disease and was subscribed to porn sites. It was awful. Her information was out in cyberspace, and someone was using it nefariously.
We contacted SLOPD and filed a police report for cyberstalking, then continued to document the harassment. Unfortunately, SLOPD was unable to assist us in resolving the case and advised Kathie to change her phone number. We also shared all of the information and videos with Cal Poly who explained that it was the City’s responsibility. It was intimidating and had a terrible impact on our lives.
In an ironic twist, after Cal Poly was provided with the police report, documentation and videos of ongoing harassment, Sigma Pi was recognized by Cal Poly Greek Life as the 2023 IFC chapter of the year.