As house mom and cook for Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for the past seven years, Rach, of Eaton Rapids, checks in to make sure her men are doing OK and to help them prepare for the first day of classes.

“I like making people happy,” Rach said. “And I love cooking.”

While most students leave mom behind for college, many students in the greek community have the privilege of keeping her close by — well, sort of.

Several sororities and fraternities in East Lansing employ professional staff to help keep their houses running smoothly. The organizations may have cooks and housekeepers, and some have house directors, or house “moms” who might reside with them to lend a helping hand and willing ear.

For Nancy Siddall, house director for Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, when the women amble out the door bidding mom farewell as they head to their cars or take off on foot to class, the scene is in every way the familiar first-day-of-school scene.

It is the beginning of another journey as she begins her third year working in the home she and the 48 sophomore and junior girls share.

The house looks and feels every bit a home. With its elegant black shutters and perfectly manicured grounds, Kappa Kappa Gamma sits like a dollhouse on M.A.C. Avenue.

As house director, Siddall is in charge of managing the bills, including food and utilities, hiring staff and dealing with everyday incidents like calling the plumber or the electric company. Most recently, she had the house’s roof replaced.

“You have to be professional for this position,” she said. “I don’t run around in sweat pants and T-shirts.”

The house also employs a cook, housekeeper and four busboys. All house employees, including Siddall, are paid by the sorority’s housing board.

With her apartment situated on the ground floor just before the front door, she is the first to greet her girls and the last to send them off. Decorated in shades of blue and brown, Siddall added her own touches to the space, which include an office, living room, bathroom and bedroom. Family photos are strewn about — she even changes the curtains from cool turquoise to rich gold for the colder months.

The “True Gentlemen,” of Sigma Alpha Epsilon enjoy hot dogs and Rach’s homemade salsa, made fresh with vegetables from her own garden. The brothers are all eager to introduce the woman who keeps them fed and focused.

“She cooks for us, she cleans, she takes care of us, she jokes with us,” said Justin Rose, a journalism senior. “It’s really nice to have someone like that because everyone misses that whole home thing, and it’s nice to have like one person who you can actually like connect with and is like a mother figure.”

Rose will be living in the house for the second year this fall. Having a mom away from home is both comforting and beneficial.

“It’s nice because you know a lot of the times when you get out of the dorms — I lived in a house last year on my own — and I can tell you every day having to come home from class and make spaghetti every day for like a year, it gets old,” he said.

So how does one feed almost 40 men?

Rach begins by sitting down with the brothers to see what they have a taste for, be it a classic like hearty soup or something new like a wrap. She balances likes with dislikes, while also dealing with allergies and health conditions. Next she meets with a representative from Gordon Food Service to make the week’s order. With 13 years of experience cooking in the greek community, she has the planning down to a science.

“They’re pretty content — if there is something up there that they are not interested in, they’ll eat a salad or a bowl of cereal,” Rach said.

While the boys are on their own for breakfast — the pantry is always stocked with bagels and cereal — Rach is in at 7:30 a.m. to begin preparing lunch, which is served at 11:30 a.m. and dinner, which is served at 5 p.m. While she cleans up after lunch, post-supper cleanup is left to the boys.

Rach’s talents have been sought outside the house. When the greek community hosted Building Bridges last year, Rach created a meal for members of the East Lansing City Council, Mayor Sam Singh and MSU Provost Kim Wilcox.

Rach says the job suits her because she loves to cook for everyone and everything.

Rach is in almost every way a mom to the house. She cleans the house throughout the summer, irons clothes and contacts repairmen when needed.

She also is there to lend an ear. However, she is not involved in the governing of the house or disciplinary measures.

Aside from her daily culinary creations, Rach lends her talents to creating special meals and desserts for the house. There are cakes for birthdays — Rach recently completed a cake decorating course to improve her skills — as well as homecoming spreads and brunch every Friday.

“A few years back somebody wanted cheese-stuffed corn dogs. Other than that it is a lot of burgers, a lot of meat loaf, a lot of beef, just the opposite from the sororities (who prefer) chicken and turkey,” Rach said.

At the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, Lauren Williams, sorority president and a retailing and public relations junior, said Siddall is available for everything from stamps and quarters for laundry to emotional support.

“It is more of a comfort factor for many of the girls to have a mother figure around,” she said. “Just little things that you don’t worry about in your own home because your parents take care of it.”

The rest is up to the girls.

House directors do not discipline the girls, Siddall said. She said she wants to help them but also allow them to learn and grow independently.

Siddall, a mother of two and grandmother of four, was approached by a co-worker who was a Kappa who heard the house was in need of a director. After applying for and receiving the job, she said it was the close bond of the girls that drew her in.

Despite living with the girls, Siddall is not bound to the house. She owns a home in Lansing and maintains a social life outside of Kappa Kappa Gamma. At the end of the day, like any mom, Siddall likes to spend time with her girls to blow off steam and relax.

“The most fun I think we have with her is when we watch “Dancing With the Stars” and she is just as into in it as we are,” Williams said.

The experience has been rewarding, Siddall said, with the girls extending their help and support to her as well. When Siddall began a weight-loss program, the girls were there every step of the way to provide encouragement.

“I hope to teach them about accountability, respect and communication,” she said. “I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be at this moment in my life.”

However, not all MSU greeks have chapter houses.

Brittney McNorton, a communications senior and president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, said not having a house makes for a few differences in the functionality of the sorority.

“I do think that not having a house makes things a bit different, I don’t think it is a downside. It doesn’t really affect us not having a house, but as far and having the sisterhood we have — it doesn’t affect us at all,” she said.

Instead, McNorton and the sorority’s members organize monthly meetings as a whole, in committees and with the executive board, to organize and plan events and philanthropic endeavors.

She said it is creating strong connections among members, regardless of having a house or not, that makes any organization successful.

“I think the relationships we have are what makes our sorority successful. You know exactly what they are good at and where they are not so great, and you learn how to place them in their best position so they can do the maximum for our chapter as well as be a good sister for everyone else,” McNorton said.

It is these ties that keep the group close.

“My sorority is in my heart, not a location,” she said.

Like any proud mother, Rach enjoys watching her boys grow up, move out and come back. She has made everything from filet mignon to bag lunches for deer hunting expeditions and hopes to continue spoiling them for years to come.

“I get to see different generations of guys being here so long, it’s really nice when the old boys from the beginning come back,” she said. “They’re married now, some of them have kids, so it’s like I am kind of like granny now compared to when I started.”