Frat boys return 'a slice of hell'

CHRISTIAN COTRONEO STAFF REPORTER

It's the season of the student. And few brace for that riotous rite of autumn more than the Annex neighbourhoods surrounding the University of Toronto, where noise complaints flow fast and furious. Jennine Profeta, who lives across the street from Delta Kappa Epsilon at the corner of Lowther Ave. and St. George St., sums up the neighbourhood sentiment: "September is a little slice of hell." The sprawling fraternity house has long been the front line in the timeless battle between the back-to-school brigade and red-eyed residents. Looking out the window of its television room — a makeshift home theatre with rows of mismatched couches — it's easy to see why. An apartment building swallows the view, seeming almost on top of the red-brick house. There's another building just like it on the other side. Not to mention a crop of older Annex houses, just an upward turn of the stereo volume dial away. "Thankfully we have a church over there," says fraternity president Ben Lee, pointing at the only non-residential space on the block. Delta Kappa Epsilon is in tight quarters. For its part, Ben Lee says the fraternity is always looking for ways to party in a vacuum. They put insulation around doors and windows, urge partygoers not to loiter loudly on the balcony and even try to cultivate relations with the neighbours. Last year, the fraternity threw a barbecue, blanketing the surrounding buildings with invitations. "We pretty much told them, `Here's what you can expect,'" Lee says. "It's noisy," says Lee, a neighbouring renter who would only give her first name. "I live on the back side of the building so it's not as bad for me. I know there have been people who have moved out of the building because of the noise. "They're living in a community," she adds. "They have to realize that — and have to bring their behaviour in line with everyone else in the community." The community, however, has had a lot of time to adjust to its brash neighbour. Delta Kappa Epsilon moved into the one-time nunnery in 1964. Its pedigree, says Ben Lee, is nothing to sniff at. He can rhyme off dozens of movers and shakers who graduated from the fraternity's international order. `I know there have been people who have moved out of the building because of the noise.' Lee, a tenant living near frat house "We've had guys start multi-billion-dollar corporations," Lee says. "We landed on the moon." But, of course, during these formative years, it's mostly police officers landing on their doorstep. "What I would really like to do is just give (neighbours) our number," Lee says. "It would be really nice if they contacted us first instead of getting outside parties involved." When school's out, fraternity members head back home, as working boarders move in — and the house falls into its traditional summer hush. But just before summer's pilot light goes out, they return with all their enthusiasm for higher learning. "September and October are our biggest couple of months," says social co-ordinator Russ Anderson. "That's when fraternities are looking for guys." It's easy to join Delta Kappa Epsilon, Anderson says. The guys just have to like you. And to get a sense of a potential member, the fraternity holds a host of functions. There are mixers with sororities, pub nights that begin and often end at the house, and the handful of big-ticket parties hosted on the premises. And the neighbourhood, for better or worse, keeps the beat. "It does get loud, I'm not going to lie," Lee says. "We do our best to control the whole noise issue. I try to put myself in their shoes. "But it's pretty hard when I have 17 guys living in the same house." City Councillor Olivia Chow says complaints in her ward are nothing new. About two years ago, she organized a meeting with all the fraternity houses, along with residents and police to work out their issues. "It's ongoing," she says. "It might be time that we do another meeting. We find that we have to do that from to time. Additional articles by Christian Cotroneo