The results of a recent survey by the University's Panhellenic Association indicate that about 50 percent of sorority women on campus would be interested in living in a residential section for their sorority. The organization's leaders hope to use the results to bring the voice of women into the growing residential discussion.
Panhel distributed a survey to sorority members in September designed to assess members' desire for residential sororities on campus. Trinity senior Kirsten Marsh, president of Panhel and a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, emphasized that the survey was for "informational purposes only"-not to lobby the administration for residential space.
Although Marsh emphasized the informational value of the survey-which until two years ago Panhel had distributed annually for more than a decade-she said that she may use the survey itself as a springboard to launch women's voices into the discussion (see related story, pg. 1).
The release of the survey's results falls at an appropriate time to do just that.
Because sororities represent approximately 40 percent of the undergraduate women at the University, Marsh said they should be playing a more vocal role in discussing the long-range residential vision, particularly because the survey seemed to provide evidence that sororities may want to be part of future campus housing options.
The results have compelled Panhel leaders to begin examining the practicality and feasibility of making sororities residential selective groups.
"If we look at the this as a survey of 50 percent of all females [on campus], then 56 percent of those are saying that they not only support selective living, but that they themselves would be willing to live in a section," said Trinity junior Hillary Holmes, Panhel vice president of housing and space and member of the sorority.
Despite the apparent support for residential sororities, many individual members indicated on the survey that they still had several unanswered questions pertaining to the requirements and implementation of the hypothetical situation.
Whether living in sections would be mandatory was a common concern indicated by sorority members. Panhel currently has no intention of instituting mandatory living requirements like those of fraternities.
"Any kind of residential status at Duke would be totally voluntary, because making it mandatory would just further eliminate the availability of housing for independents," Holmes said.
She emphasized that the results have turned Panhel members' attention in a new direction and opened their minds to new possibilities-but they will not take action to that end just yet.
In the meantime, the survey has already reached the hands of several administrators, including Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president of student affairs.
Wasiolek said that sororities' support of residential status is not new.
About 15 years ago when significant residential changes were on the horizon at the University, she explained, there existed a similar sentiment among female greek organizations-about 50 percent of sorority women voted to support residential living.
While the numbers have fluctuated in the interim, she said that 1982 is the last time she can recall the support being this high.
Although Wasiolek is reluctant to interpret the data on behalf of the sororities, she is willing to say that the results do in fact point to a higher level of interest in residential life than in the past.
"Sororities themselves are in the best position to interpret some of these numbers because they in are in a better position to know the feelings behind them," she explained. "I'm really not in any position to draw conclusions from these numbers."
For now, Marsh said, the survey results will be delivered to the upperclass residential planning group in order to provide a female voice.
"Women have not been represented at all in this debate," she said. "The context of the debate has been race only: everything in terms of white males and black males, and I resent that. There are gender issues here, too."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.