Alpha Kappa Lambda was downsized into a much smaller house at 824 Greenbrier Road after a fire damaged their previous house over the summer.

“After the fire, NIU was very helpful in finding housing options for those who had nowhere to stay,” AKL president Nick Hosang said. “The fire was a really hard thing for us to go through, but in the end it brought us all closer.”

Although AKL moved into a much smaller house, Hosang explained everything happens for a reason, and they are happy to have a house rather than to not have one at all.

Following the fire, the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity bought the house from the landlord, leaving AKL without a home. That week, AKL leased Pi Kappa Phi’s previous residence.

“We found out we had a house to live in less than a week before the first day of class,” senior business major Brian Ward said. “It was really scary to think there was nowhere to go.”

When AKL learned they had a house to live in, they had a very little time to prepare to live in it. The house had all the old colors from Pi Kappa Phi and had to be cleaned very intensely.

“We had to really get on top of our stuff because we moved in late, had to repaint a lot of the rooms, clean the house and get ready for classes in a very short amount of time,” Ward said.

Moving into the new house hampered the fraternity’s ability to participate in Greek events.

“Because of the late move-in we missed out on events being held during the first wwwweek of school,” senior finance major Kyle Kasperek said.

There are over 40 members in the fraternity, with about 20 members living in the house. With only 15 bedrooms it is a tight fit.

“Last year we had a full house that was a much larger house,” Ward said. “And now we have a smaller house that is full to the max.”

AKL had a tough time getting back on their feet after the summer incident, but Kasperek said they never gave up.

“We recently held a benefit concert at our house to raise money for our philanthropy,” Kasperek said. “About five bands came to perform.”

AKL explained that they are doing what they can to make their new living situation as homelike as possible. The first weekend home, AKL made sure to put their letters up right away.

“We worked hard to make the house our house,” Ward said.

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