Some of Duke’s Panhellenic sororities are receiving additional funding from their national organizations to renovate their new Central Campus houses.
The funding, which largely comes from sorority members’ dues, will be distributed by the national Panhellenic organizations, Panhellenic Association President Kelsey Woodford, a junior, wrote in an email April 5.
“We as a Panhellenic community are very excited for the opportunity to have spaces and to make them our own,” Woodford said.
It is common for national organizations to provide housing funds to chapters, as the organizations generally provide funds when sororities receive new houses, she added.
The amount of funding will vary among chapters, said Sarah Loge, program coordinator of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. The renovations will help tailor the sections to the individual sororities.
Not every sorority has received additional funds, Woodford noted. She did not know the amounts of funding the various sororities will receive.
“[The sororities] will have a space that has been renovated for them as an organization,” Loge said. “It will be a space that will be more comfortable and more home-like for them.” The funding was first mentioned in the Fall, when the nine Panhellenic sororities were first offered housing, said Joe Gonzalez, associate dean of residence life. At that time, the sororities mentioned that their national organizations might have an interest in providing funding for improving the sections.
If organizations are willing to pay for them, Gonzalez said selective living groups on Central have the option of requesting additional improvements, beyond the standard University renovations of new flooring, paint and lighting in the common rooms that will occur in all Central Campus houses this summer. Sororities are the only groups who have pursued the additional renovations.
The most commonly requested additional improvements are granite countertops, new cabinetry and new appliances, Gonzalez said. These renovations will take place at the same time as the other Central Campus renovations over the summer.
The prices for these additional renovations range from $525 to around $14,000 for every possible upgrade, Gonzalez said. He was unaware of how much funding each sorority has received. The sororities’ national offices could not be reached for comment or declined to comment about these numbers.
Woodford credited Duke’s nine Panhellenic chapter presidents and the former Duke Panhellenic executive board with acquiring the money, which she said would be beneficial to the sororities and the general Duke community.
“We look forward to using these houses to host programming that fosters unity among our chapters, the councils and the Duke community,” Woodford said.
Isalyn Connell, a sophomore and president of Duke’s chapter of Delta Gamma sorority, said that while no decision to pursue additional renovations has yet been finalized among her chapter, any funding to do so would come from the chapter’s house corporation board, rather than from the national organization.
“The timeline of all these things is new to Duke and new to us, and we’re all extremely excited that we are receiving housing,” Connell said. “At this point no decision has been finalized.” Connell added that house corporation board received its funding from a one-time $35 new member fee and that the board had been saving funds to spend on permanent fixtures.
The other eight Panhellenic chapter presidents could not be reached or declined to comment.
This is not the first time selective living groups have used outside funds to enhance their living spaces. Last summer, the entrepreneurship-focused selective living group InCube used about $25,000 in private donations to convert their common room into office space that features desks and computers among other features.
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