Would a frat house have a threshold?

[bibliophile20]

Plotting out university based adventures and ran up against something.

Dorms wouldn't have any more of a threshold than any hotel; they're large, impersonal, and the residents are ultimately transient.  But a fraternity or sorority house... that's a different story.  They belong to an extended clan that claim brother/sister-hood with each other and have adoption ceremonies (i.e. rituals) to bind this, pride and energy is put into the house (in decoration, if nothing else), a great deal of emotions are expended within the bounds of the house (parties, papers, exam studying, etc) and, lastly, some houses have been within the possession of a single fraternity or sorority for years if not decades. 

So... would a frat house have a threshold?

[MijRai]

My suggestion: If it makes the story better, choose that option. Maybe work it on a case-by-case basis as well. Some of them are sister/brotherhoods, others are just groups who like funny names.

[Nyarlathotep5150]

   I'd say yes, but not a very strong one. Frat/Sorority houses are still a temporary home. Nobody expects to build a life there, or live there for more than 8 years tops.
   It does have a sense of community, of family and it is a long term home.
   So no it couldn't build a strong threshold, since every "family member" there fully intends to leave in the foreseeable future. but it does have a lot of community binding within, which might build it higher than a motel.
   I'd say 1-2 tops, and only for really longstanding, close knit frats.
  

[devonapple]

Some Greek organizations could even be fronts/recruiting grounds for cults/sorcerous groups, who MIGHT ward their turfs

[toturi]

Which to me begs the question: what would the threshold of places where people fully intend to stay and call home for a significant length of time (longer than a few days but not their whole lives) be?

For that matter, what would the threshold for such places like the presidential residences of the White House?

[Tahotai]

I'd say the threshold of the frat house as a whole would be very, very weak.  Almost non-existent for all but the very old ones.  Now the student rooms would have slightly stronger ones, factoring in how long they've lived there, how much they think of it as home, how much natural magic has gone on there (relationships and strong moments and the like). 

So the room of the fourth year with the steady girlfriend who practically lives with him who considers the room his home and has had plenty of life experiences there would have a decently strong threshold, quite possibly stronger then some bachelor pad houses.  Whereas the new freshman who sleeps in his room only every other night and hasn't put up a single decoration might have essentially no threshold.

[IIIMarconeIII]

What about layered wards, if every 3 or 4 years someone come along with the ability to make wards, after 20-30years they can add up to some serious defense's. like Edinburgh, it's  not a home to a family but it has major wards and defenses  (Harry has mentioned wards but never a threshold while there)

[Nyarlathotep5150]

What about layered wards, if every 3 or 4 years someone come along with the ability to make wards, after 20-30years they can add up to some serious defense's. like Edinburgh, it's  not a home to a family but it has major wards and defenses  (Harry has mentioned wards but never a threshold while there)

   Not necessarily. You have to remember that "permanent" magic actually requires a lot of upkeep to fight off the entropic effects of sunrise. If every 3-4 years someone came along with warding abilities, even if the previous one was an extremely powerful warder, the wards would be fraying down to nothing by the time the new one got there. So yes in that situation the house might always BE warded, but the wards wouldn't really build on eachother.

Which to me begs the question: what would the threshold of places where people fully intend to stay and call home for a significant length of time (longer than a few days but not their whole lives) be?

  I would say that this depends. Mostly people don't end up living in a house forever anyway. But theres a difference between moving into a house, building a life and a family there and later buying a new one; and moving into a place KNOWING its temporary.
  When you move into a dorm or Frat house you know theres an expiration date. You know its only for 4-8 years, then you'll be moving on. Going in knowing that changes how you feel about a place, even if just on a subconscious level, you are aware that its only a temporary living arrangement, not a home.

[devonapple]

Presumably if a Greek house is being actively warded by anyone, it would be someone in the organization's leadership, or one of their designees, so the wards would probably be maintained more often.

As far as natural Thresholds, then, sounds like they would average out to be on par with "bachelor pad"?

[mostlyawake]

Given that a strong threshold seems to involve a family, a sense of home, over time (preferably generations), and the safety and security of a loving environment, I'd say that a frat house barely counts.

Plus, the more like a meeting place or place of business that a building serves, the less of a threshold it is... and at every frat house I've ever been in, no one knows who exactly is there at any given time, and the building is quite public.. so.. probably at best, equal to an apartment building (no threshold on the building itself, each individual bedroom possibly having a low threshold).

[sinker]

You know, it occurs to me that a threshold can be inherited and doesn't have to be built by one single person. Murphy's threshold isn't powerful because she built it, it's powerful because the house had meaning and life to someone. Sometimes a frat can become a very strong family that overcomes generations of students and unites them. I'd say that under those circumstances that even though no one person stays for more than eight years the importance of the place to that family and the amount of life within could create a very powerful threshold. Not to say that every frat house will have one, just that I could see a few with one.

[mostlyawake]

Murph's house was her dad's, if I remember, thus the threshold.  It's a generational thing.

Also, it's built on trust and safety.. which AREN'T things created by hazing, the alpha-mentality of competitive students, ect, ect, ect.

So i'd argue that if this is true, it's exceptionally rare.  If you have a house where girls are potentially getting roofied and date-raped, probably not building a strong threshold.  If you have a house where you are constantly worried about being accepted by other members of that household, probably not a strong threshold. 

If you have a single family home that's been in the family for generations but has been tied to generations of physical or other abuse, then I doubt the threshold there is very strong or even exists; it seems like a perfect place for demons to come and go freely.

[sinker]

Oh yeah, no I'm definitely not saying that every frat house is going to be like that, but one of my friends joined the nerd frat up in Beloit WI and he said they were like the brothers he never had.

Also, it's built on trust and safety.. which AREN'T things created by hazing, the alpha-mentality of competitive students, ect, ect, ect.
...If you have a house where girls are potentially getting roofied and date-raped, probably not building a strong threshold.  If you have a house where you are constantly worried about being accepted by other members of that household, probably not a strong threshold. 

Seems to me that this is everyone's idea of what a frat house is and I know that it's not the case in a significant portion of frat houses.

[mostlyawake]

Hazing has "gone away", and if you've ever been in a "frat house" on a Christian campus, it's sorta like being at boyscouts camp 24/7... so yeah, I'm not saying all of them are BAD.  But the tensions that arise between equals, and the competition therein, isn't the same as a loving household.

[MacsNewBrew]

If it is the right kind of frat, then yes, a house can have a threshold.
Let's look at Revenge of the Nerds. The Alpha's original house would not have a threshold, but the Lambda house would. There was a real sense of brotherhood there. These guys would do anything for each other. Sure, there are arguments, resentments, and what not, but it is like that with any other family.
To paraphrase Harry re: Morgan: "He might have been an A-hole, but he was our A-hole.
Also, keep in mind, that a lot of frats use several rites, rituals, and ceremonies during the course of a year. I'm not talking about the "Thank you Sir, may I have another" stuff from Animal House, but based on old and well-respected rites such as

(click to show/hide)

redacted

. A lot of "secret societies" look to ancient texts, or what was saved from them, as a basis of their degrees, passages, etc... There could be real power in those rites.

Really, it's just a game and if it helps the story, then have at it!