Panhellenic recruitment and the house model

Duke’s Panhellenic Association agrees with the Editorial Board’s stance that housing is an important topic of discussion during Panhellenic recruitment. We have just finished our annual editing of the recruitment rules for the upcoming year and have allowed for the possibility of discussing sorority spaces with potential new members.

The topic “buildings” was declared off limits during last year’s Panhellenic recruitment because of all the unknowns that the new housing model posed. Because women had never lived in a “sorority section,” chapter members were not well equipped to speak to the differences. These unknowns are still a reality as all Duke students, Panhellenic women included, navigate the housing changes. In the coming recruitment, talking about housing with potential new members is encouraged. Members should be candid about the challenges that housing may pose, but it is already apparent after just two weeks of school that the independence and sense of community created by including sororities in the house model is an enhancement to the Panhellenic experience.

It is important to note that the housing implications of joining a sorority are no different than they were last year. As Duke refines the house model, ratios of sophomores, juniors and seniors are not yet in place. Panhellenic spaces on Central range in size, with the difference between the largest and smallest houses at 18 beds.

With the entire campus moving toward the house model, the sophomore-year, residence-life experience is changing for all students. According to Duke’s office of Housing, Dining and Residence Life (HDRL), “All sophomores, juniors and seniors living on campus are members of a house—a home on campus they can identify with and where they can build networks of friends spanning different class years.” Blocking no longer operates in the same way, as block sizes have been decreased from 12 members to six, and the block will necessarily become a part of a house. Potential new members are encouraged to educate themselves on Duke’s housing process as a whole before choosing to participate in recruitment.

Panhellenic is thrilled to have housing as an option. We look forward to the lasting friendships that will be strengthened as a result of the houses themselves and the proximity of the Panhellenic spaces to one another on Central Campus. We are, above all, excited to share these new possibilities with the women who choose to participate in recruitment this spring.

Hannah Hayward, Trinity ’13

Vice President of Recruitment and Membership, Duke Panhellenic Association