Depending on where you grew up, Greek life (sororities and fraternities) is either a normal culture you're accustomed to hearing about or a complete mystery. But though I grew up in South Carolina and was an active member of a sorority in college, social media can still surprise me by shining a light on curious aspects of the Panhellenic lifestyle I have never seen before. Recently, sorority cold rooms and sleeping porches have been discovered by TikTok users who are rightfully confused by the bizarre sleeping situations.
Sleeping porches, now more commonly referred to as cold rooms or cold air dorms, are where a large number of the sorority or fraternity members sleep at some of the larger, state universities like Indiana University, Purdue, and the University of Washington. The rooms, often attics or basements, resemble military barracks with rows of bunk beds lining the walls. They provide house members with a space to sleep at all hours of the day.
To facilitate sleep, the overhead lighting is usually nonexistent, even in the middle of the day, and it's not uncommon to have blackout shades drawn at all times. The A/C is often blasting; it's so cold in these rooms that many residents who have shared their experiences on social media recall using electric blankets and heating pads. At Kansas State University, the sorority cold dorms were consistently a brisk 62 degrees. Because the only furniture in these rooms are beds, the residents have dressers and desks elsewhere in the sorority house.
One TikTok user, a former Kappa Kappa Gamma at Purdue University, took to the app to explain her experience. “It’s one big room that’s really cold and really dark, you make it the coziest space possible,” she says in one video. “At one point I had a bed in the cold room, a closet in the hallway, and a desk downstairs, I loved every minute of it.” She goes on to say that KKG’s cold air dorm was built as a necessity to house the larger incoming pledge classes, sometimes up to 90 women who were all moving into the sorority house at one time.
Caroline Lassman, an alumna of Kansas State University, slept in her sorority's cold dorm for two of her three years in the house. Some bunks were more coveted than others. “Bunks were assigned based on a 'points' system,” Lassman told us. “We gained points by having a good GPA, participating in community service events, helping out the sorority for events, etc. From there we were able to pick whether we wanted top or bottom bunk and at what part of the room. You’d typically want to be in one of the farther corners so you weren’t by the door that was opening/closing all the time.” Other than the cacophony of morning alarms that would all go off at once, Lassman recalls those rooms being a very peaceful place to sleep.
These odd sleeping arrangements have historical roots. In the early 1900s, sleeping porches were just that: A screened-in porch with beds rather than traditional porch or living room furniture. Because older homes were built to trap warm air in the winter, summers could be stifling, especially in the Southern United States. Sleeping on the porch was a chance to make the most of a cool night cross breeze.
Today, though many homes have central air conditioning and climate control, sleeping porches actually look quite pleasant. Plus, if you have trouble sleeping, a pitch-black, cold room filled with your best friends might be exactly what you need to finally get some well-deserved rest.
