How is Nabor House so cheap?

Nabor House is a cooperative fraternity, meaning all the members of the house pitch in to cook and clean for the entire membership. By not hiring a professional chef or cleaning team, Nabor House saves thousands of dollars per year in expenses that other fraternities incur. Those savings are passed along to the active chapter, which is able to provide its members with rent, food, internet, cable, utilities, parking, and printing for just $650 per month--one of the lowest prices among University of Illinois fraternities despite having the newest fraternity house on campus. As the alumni continues to donate in an effort to "Burn the Mortgage," house bills have the potential to remain at $650 per month for years to come.

Doubt that 35 men can fend for themselves constructively? Don't worry, you're not alone. The University of Illinois and the founder's renters in 1939 both doubted that a male cooperative was feasible without a house mother, too. Burdette B. Lutz even received disciplinary action for operating a house without a house mother, but 75 years later, we're still proving them wrong.

With college men cooking for themselves, the meals must stink, right?

Not at all. We've been doing this for 75 years, and we have found great menu items that are easy to prepare. The newest members of the house are matched with more experienced cooks to ensure that each member is taught how to cook well, and the commissary department budgets more than $15,000 per semester so that the active chapter gets quality meals--and lots of them. The menu includes house favorites such as pork chops, spaghetti and meatballs, burgers, cold cuts, mostacholi, Italian chicken breasts, tender loins, and even steak multiple times each semester. Every meal is served with both fruits and vegetables; and eggs, bacon, and cereal are available for every breakfast.

With college men cleaning for themselves, the house must be filthy, right?

Not at all. We've been doing this for 75 years, and we have a great system to ensure that every inch of the house is cleaned on a weekly basis. Every new member receives specific cleaning instructions and only has to kick in two or three hours per week. The house gets vacuumed and dusted every day, and the bathrooms get cleaned each day, as well. The whole house pitches in to keep the kitchen spotless. The dishes are done, the floor mopped, and the countertops wiped down three times per day.

Do I have to be in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) to join?

No. Nabor House's pledge qualifications have not changed since the founders wrote the first House Constitution in 1939. The qualifications to join Nabor House are those "...who are a full-time male student in the College of Agriculture," or those "...who have a  rural background and a liking for farm life." In short, Nabors are either enrolled in the College of ACES or grew up with--and have an appreciation for--agricultural life.

Why is Nabor House spelled weird?

We'll let Nabor House founder Sam Ridlen answer this one. In "An Idea and an Ideal," a Nabor House history published in 1989, Ridlen said, "As soon as the men moved into 410 W. High in 1938, the word 'neighbor' surfaced repeatedly and seemed to convey the organization's purpose best. It seemed appropriate for a group of closely knit people who worked together for each other's good and for the good of all, a group that maintained a friendly and helpful spirit within its ranks. So, thinking of the group's own cooperative structure, neighbors and other folks on the farm, and the agricultural oriented people with whom the members would eventually be working, the name Nabor House was selected. The spelling was chosen to make it short, catchy, and distinctive."