Opportunities to get involved, establish traditions, and make a difference!
Residential Student Leadership consists of House Councils on East Campus and Quad Councils on West Campus and Swift Campus. QuadEx recognizes that buildings alone cannot forge community or provide the opportunities that students have been asking for and deserve. Each House Council on East Campus and Quad Council on West and Swift will develop its own identity, traditions, and events, which will be student-driven, supported by university resources, and available to all members. Students have the opportunity to get involved, exercise and enhance their leadership skills and provide opportunities to develop community!
As a Duke student leader, you have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life on campus. You and the students to whom you represent, are challenged to create “happenings” that enhance the academic experience. As Michelangelo once said, “Still I am learning.” The upcoming year will inevitably present many exciting and positive challenges that will hopefully provide an abundance of adventures for learning.
Throughout these adventures, it is important to help group members feel a sense of belonging and shared commitment to the group. As leaders, it is imperative to maintain open communication with the members and have confidence in each individual’s ability to contribute.
Our very own Coach K embodies and exemplifies what it means to be a leader. He encourages us to always do our best, to stay curious, meet people where they are, choose the harder right, inspire others, find a higher purpose, and that everyone deserves respect. Being an effective leader is indeed a purposeful process and takes both a strong character and heart.
Each quad has a council charged with providing community events, advocating for community improvements, and communicating community concerns. Officer elections are held in the spring with remaining positions filled in the fall. Quad councils utilize funds to sponsor community events. The possibilities of hosting opportunities for engagement are vast; planning quad parties and concerts; faculty-student dinners and speakers; rec sports competitions; providing tickets to the Durham Performing Arts Center; purchasing quad swag; to planning a trip to Carowinds.
Members of each quad will elect the following officers:
Co-Presidents (one rising junior/senior & one rising sophomore)
A pair of students who will become very close friends and accountability partners. You two will be ultimately responsible for improving the happiness, connectivity, and wellbeing of everyone in your Quads, and Duke/HRL is committed to giving you the resources to do so. We're looking for strong leaders with the passion to push boundaries, build new traditions, and advocate for their peers.
Vice President/Treasurer
Not excited about being the face of your dorm, but still looking for responsibility? We need someone who's going to advocate for that bouncy house for their upcoming quad party, who's going to make the decision on whether to buy an air-hockey table or pinball machine for that empty corner of the common room, who's going to tell your peers that you have just enough money for high-quality multi-color hoodies for the whole quad at the end of the year.
Communications Coordinator
Craven is throwing a party in the quad, and everyone needs to know about it! Looking for graphically inclined and well-connected individuals who are passionate about spreading their quad's spirit all across campus. This isn't just sending emails, this is coordinating with merch companies, getting signs and flyers and banners and plaques created for your residents. This is a lynchpin position in making your Quad's events a success.
Social Chair
What's a community without socialization, and socialization with everyone? We're looking for someone who's going to help pull students out of their comfort zones in their dorm rooms, and into spaces where they can meet and continue to foster and build relationships with others. Imagine building monthly competitions with neighboring quads, or planning a karaoke event on the lawn of Kilgo, or hosting an open Halloween party for all of your fellow Quad members.
Academic Engagement Chair
We're not looking for you to teach lectures, we want you to be an advocate for academic success and wellbeing across your Quad. You're the person who knows what the ARC is, who's met with a Peer Tutor, and who is passionate about connecting your residents with resources that will help them thrive. You'll also have a budget for hosting Quad speaker events, study breaks, and anything else you can imagine falling under the more academic side of the Duke Experience.
First-Year House Councils are elected in early Fall a few weeks after students participate in one of Duke’s immersive orientation programs. Each East Campus residence hall elects a slate of student leaders who plan events for the house, make decisions about using house funds, and serve as an advocacy group to give voice to first-year student issues. The elected Vice-President from each house will serve on the East Campus Council (ECC). ECC has the mission of building community within the first-year class. This is accomplished through facilitating campus-wide events and acting as a liaison between the class leadership and the house community. ECC also serves as the Class Council for each first-year class.