No place like home

Pi Beta Phi sorority members settle in to their newly rebuilt home at UI.

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Story Published: Aug 20, 2008 at 7:33 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 11:58 PM PST

By Matt Loveless

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MOSCOW - It's been quite the year for some University of Idaho women, but now they're back home.

Just days before they were set to move back for another year of school in the fall of 2007, an electrical problem changed their world.

The home of the women of Pi Beta Phi was destroyed by fire. A blown out roof, and smoke and water damage to the rest of the house.

They spent a semester separated at various dorms, and in one case, just days in an empty fraternity house before a sewer line busted. That next night, the power went out at their hotel. And things, as you may guess, haven't been quite normal.

The girls attacked the disaster with an "It's not the structure but the sisterhood" attitude.

On Wednesday it could finally be about the structure too.

"It feels amazing, we missed it so much, and now we're back to normal, almost," said UI Pi Beta Phi President Samantha Hauger. "And we got a whole new pledge class just today."

A number of parents were in Moscow Wednesday, many moving their daughters in for their first year of college. They were moving into a beautiful mansion. For last year's freshmen it was a little different.

As for the upperclassmen, it's a far cry from what it was and it's easy to put the last year in the rear view mirror.

"It was a complete remodel," said Hauger. "The house is gorgeous. We have tons of new furniture, all kinds of new spaces. It's a lot more functional for us."

That includes a new ventilation system, heated marble floors in the bathroom and hardwood floors throughout the rest. In fact about the only thing the $200,000 remodel couldn't change was the attitude.

"We are so excited to get the new year (started)," said Hauger. "We can't wait."

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