Sororities to recruit off campus

The recruitment process for the nine sorority chapters in Duke’s Panhellenic Association will move from West Campus to the Durham Convention Center this Spring.

The move was prompted by expected limitations to available on-campus space. In prior years, sororities have utilized the Von Canon meeting rooms in the Bryan Center, which will be undergoing renovations this Spring in preparation for the West Union renovations beginning summer 2013. These and other meeting spaces across campus have seen decreased availability in response in the renovations said Sarah Loge, program coordinator for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Although sorority recruitment will be moved off campus, the new location will centralize the process as all recruitment events will occur in the same place, Loge added.

“We are very excited about the move and the ability to have everyone in one location with similar spaces instead of all over East and West Campus,” said Loge.

President of the Panhellenic Association Kelsey Woodford, a senior, declined to comment on the change in location.

Although the new location will present changes to transportation logistics—students will have to be bused from campus to the Convention Center—the recruitment events themselves will remain largely unchanged, Loge said.

“Honestly, the only major change that is in place from recruitment this year to recruitment in years past is we are moving from on-campus to the Durham Convention Center,” she said.

The Durham Convention Center has not yet begun preparations for the rush events, said Anne Howard, director of convention services. She noted that preparations for events do not typically begin until six weeks before the occasion.