Plans for increased quad interaction have gotten a tremendous boost from the $75,000 that the President's Office has set aside for quad programming.
"We hope [the programming] creates more opportunities for interaction between upperclass and first-year students and between faculty, students and staff," said President Nan Keohane.
Members of the Quadrangle Development Committee, responsible for organizing the quad system, hope that this interaction will generate more social alternatives for students. "I hope that the quadrangles will provide a social option that independent living groups can't afford," said Linda Studer-Ellis, assistant dean of university life and a member of the committee. Quad programs will potentially be of a larger scale and will be able to attract more people than individual house activities, she said.
The quad system will also allow residents to build a stronger sense of community, said Trinity sophomore Monica Castillo, an Edens quad council member. Castillo and other quad residents have already begun discussing possible quad-wide activities, such as semi-formals and barbecues, she said.
Each quad council, consisting of one or two students from each associated dorm, will lead the way in the development of programming, said Trinity senior Peggy Cross, Duke Student Government president. The East Campus Council will serve as the equivalent of a quad council for East Campus residents. Elections for these organizations took place earlier this month.
Central Campus residents have not yet organized a similar council. An organizational meeting for the formation of such a group will be held tonight at 6 p.m., on the patio behind Uncle Harry's General Store, Cross said.
Quad council members will be going on a mandatory retreat outside of Durham this weekend so that they may begin generating ideas concerning activities for the rest of the year.
"We want to get all the quad councils to know each other really well and build a team," Cross said.
At the retreat, each quad council will elect a president, treasurer and communications director. Council members will also elect a Campus Council, which will replace the Upperclass Housing Association. The Campus Council will consist of three students from each quad council, three first-year students, one upperclass student from East Campus and three Central Campus students.
"The Campus Council [will be] a forum for inter-quad communication," said Trinity junior Inhi Cho, a member of the QDC. The Council will also receive requests for funding from the various quadrangles.
The allotment of money for programming will occur on a matching fund basis, Cross said. In order to fund an event for which it is planning, a quad will recive half of the necessary money from the Campus Council and must raise the rest of the money independently. This system will prevent all of the money from being spent on a single costly event, Cross said. Half of the $75,000 of funds will be available to students during each semester.
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