Whether it’s hosting “Dash” or “interest events,” some non-Greek selective living groups got creative to abide by Duke’s recruitment restrictions. Meanwhile other SLGs continued to hold traditional rush.
SLGs were told in August that they could not hold recruitment events this year, due to it being the last year they will have on-campus housing, a change brought on by QuadEx, Duke’s new living and learning initiative. A policy clarification in September permitted SLGs to host previously approved events, including their open house, “as long as [they] shift away from the purposes of recruitment.”
SLGs are not allowed to host “recruitment or interest-gathering meeting events or otherwise garner interest in the group unless and until” the group registers and are approved to become a Living and Learning Community or a Duke Student Government-approved new student group.
But Illyria, which has not started either process to become an LLC or DSG-registered group, advertised their activities as rush events on their Instagram.
Recruitment was “honestly not any different from last year’s rush,” according to Illyria President Audrey Alexander, a senior.
“We are having the same events as last year, if not a few more,” Alexander wrote in a message to the Chronicle. They added that no events were registered through DukeGroups and that around 80 people attended Illyria’s larger rush events.
Mirecourt, a former SLG which disaffiliated from Duke in 2021, has no plans to become approved by DSG or become an LLC, according to Mirecourt President Babu Chatterjee, a senior. Mirecourt also advertised their activities as rush events.
The selection process has “thus far been the same as it was last year,” Chatterjee wrote in an email to The Chronicle. He estimates that there were about 250 students interested in Mirecourt.
All spaces used for Mirecourt’s recruitment were either off campus or in public spaces, which do not require registration through DukeGroups.
Other groups, like Round Table, plan on transitioning into a DSG-approved group, according to co-presidents Erika Berlik, a junior, and Richard Lombardo, a senior. The organization hosted “interest events” instead of rush, and declined to “provide any comments surrounding our numbers and processes.”
Langdorm is in the process of becoming an LLC. The past two weeks were used for open events known as “Dash,” which were registered in DukeGroups after the Aug. 30 email.
According to Langdorm President Zhichen Guo, a senior, Langdorm is not recruiting members until the organization is officially an LLC.
“After Dash, we are just inviting people who show interest in LD to join us for our events throughout the year,” Guo wrote in a message to The Chronicle.
The Cube, which is also interested in becoming an LLC, hosted at least two information sessions, according to their Instagram.
Dani Harmston, associate dean for residence life, did not respond to a request for comment on non-Duke affiliated SLGs holding events for purposes of recruitment, including Illyria and Mirecourt, and whether Housing and Residence Life or Duke administration would take any action.
DSG President Lana Gesinsky told the Chronicle that DSG and the Student Organization Finance Committee are “still figuring out” a short-term measure to facilitate space rentals and event planning for group leaders until the end of this academic year. In the long term, they hope to engage a wide array of stakeholders in figuring out permanent status for SLGs.
Editor’s Note: Babu Chatterjee is a member of The Chronicle’s staff as sports social media editor.
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Katie Tan is a Trinity senior and digital strategy director of The Chronicle's 119th volume. She was previously managing editor for Volume 118.