Members of two Nebraska Wesleyan University sororities are living in safer quarters this year, thanks to a new loan program Wesleyan is offering its Greek organizations to help with the costly process of installing sprinklers.

This summer, Alpha Gamma Delta and Willard sororities became the first to take advantage of the Greek Fire Safety Program, which offers Wesleyan's privately owned fraternities and sororities 20-year, interest-free loans up to about $67,000 to install sprinklers.

Wesleyan's four remaining privately owned Greek houses -- three fraternities and a sorority -- have pledged to follow suit by Sept. 1, 2012.

At that time, all university-approved housing will be fitted with sprinklers. It will be a milestone for Wesleyan, which stepped up its commitment to sprinkler installation following a fraternity house fire in 2006 that killed one student and critically injured three others.

"We want to send a message that we take fire safety very seriously," said Clark Chandler, Wesleyan's vice president for finance and administration.

"And that we value the Greek community."

Immediately in the wake of the fire at Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, fire officials suggested 19-year-old Ryan Stewart would have survived had the house had sprinklers.

Wesleyan swiftly committed to installing sprinklers in all housing that didn't already have them.

Less than a year and several hundred thousand dollars later, all university-owned residence halls and Greek houses had been equipped.

But the six privately owned Greek houses remained.

Those chapters likely would have struggled to raise large amounts of money in a short time. But Wesleyan administrators and Greek leaders wanted to see the process move forward quickly, Chandler said.

Equal safety for all students was their top concern, but it's also important to give peace of mind to prospective Greek recruits and their parents, said Elizabeth Halvorsen, treasurer for the Alpha Gamma Delta Housing Association.

"How can you honestly say you're just as safe as you are in a dorm if you don't have sprinkler systems?" Halvorsen said.

So the university agreed to set aside $400,000 for loans to be divided equally among the six houses.

"We didn't want to wait," Chandler said. "This was a way we could get it done in a time schedule that people would think is reasonable."

Houses must meet the fall 2012 deadline or risk losing their status as university-approved housing, Chandler said. That's critical because virtually all Wesleyan students are required to live in university-approved housing for their first three years of school.

Phi Kappa Tau was handed a four-year suspension after the fire, but its leaders have committed to using the Greek Fire Safety Program if the fraternity is reinstated on campus, Wesleyan spokeswoman Sara Olson said.

Members of Alpha Gamma Delta and Willard and their families, meanwhile, have a renewed sense of security as they begin the school year.

"It's just such a wonderful thing to have it done," said Nora Hinrichs, Willard's corporation president.

"We know the girls are safe."

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.