08/25/2026
Dear Members of the Marshall Greek Life Community,
I want to reach out to you directly about the housing closures affecting several privately owned residences near campus, including three fraternity houses.
I know this unfortunate news has been difficult.
For some of you, this has meant an unexpected move at the beginning of a new academic year, and for others, it has created concern about friends, your organizations and what this may mean for the future of Greek life at Marshall.
I understand why there are questions, frustration and strong emotions surrounding this situation.
So, I want to be clear about a few things.
Marshall University didn't make the decision to close these houses. We were informed of the city and fire officials’ findings and the resulting need to vacate the properties on very short notice.
At that point, this became an immediate student safety and support issue for us.
Our responsibility was to respond quickly, help students find safe housing and do everything we could to minimize the disruption to their semester.
I also want to be equally clear about what this is not: it is not a decision to reduce, eliminate or move away from fraternity and sorority life at Marshall University.
Greek life has a long and meaningful history here. It has created lifelong friendships, developed generations of leaders and contributed countless hours of service to Marshall and the Huntington community. I value what our fraternity and sorority organizations bring to the student experience, and I want to see that tradition continue and grow stronger.
The residences affected by the closures are privately owned and are not owned or operated by Marshall University, nor are they part of the IDEA District renovations happening along 4th Avenue. The closures followed safety concerns identified by city and fire officials, and we are cooperating with the City of Huntington as those issues are addressed.
But while the houses may not belong to Marshall, the students who live in them do - and we are going to take care of our students.
Our immediate focus is making sure every affected student has a safe place to live and can continue the semester with as little disruption as possible. We have emergency funding available that covers things like:
- Temporary housing costs
- Meals
- Moving & storage needs
Our team is working directly with students to identify housing options, including available on-campus space, and we have an agreement with the DoubleTree by Hilton to provide additional rooms as needed.
If you are directly affected by one of these closures and have not yet contacted the university about housing or any other immediate need, please contact Dr. Marcie Simms, VP for Student Affairs, at [email protected]. I want you to ask for help if you need it. That's what we are here for.
I also know this situation raises a larger question: What happens next?
Once we have addressed the immediate needs of our students, we will turn our attention to that question together. We intend to work with fraternity leadership, students, alumni, property owners and other partners to explore safe, sustainable long-term housing solutions for our Greek community.
I wish we were not navigating this situation, especially at the beginning of the school year - but when the safety of our students is involved, we have to respond, and we have a responsibility to help one another through what comes next.
That’s what I am asking our Marshall community to do now.
Take care of one another. Give each other some grace - and know that we will keep communicating with you as we work through this.
We are one Marshall, and that matters most in moments when things are difficult.
Thank you for caring about this university and about one another.
Brad
