Letter to the Editor: Panhel entitled to commons rooms

The Duke Panhellenic Association apologizes for any inconvenience presented by our presence in West commons rooms during our Formal Recruitment.

 However, we would like to point out that we are within our rights to use these spaces. The rooms have been reserved for us since September, we obey "quiet hours," and we comply with Residential Services in our treatment of the spaces. Sorority recruitment is a difficult process involving approximately 1200 women, nearly 40 percent of Duke's female population. We believe that our right to these spaces is justified. That said, we would like to point out that there is no other option.

 In an ideal world, we would use no residential space. However, due to safety issues, we must use on-campus locations, and due to chapter size and the fire code, they must be among the larger spaces Duke has to offer. There are few times when all nine of our Panhellenic chapters require campus space, but this week is one of them.

 We spent months searching for nine spaces that were sizeable enough to accommodate our chapters, and it became necessary to reserve commons rooms on West Campus.

VP Membership, Duke Panhellenic Association