Having previously housed the Sigma Chapter of Kappa Alpha Order (KA), Patterson Court House #12 is currently being redesigned. With the fraternity’s departure from campus, the college looks to find a new purpose for this under-utilized space on campus.
To effectively re-establish the house’s purpose, Davidson’s administration assembled a committee—a group of faculty, students, and staff. Members of the team include: Molly Sherrill ‘22; Cheyanne Morris ‘23; Claire Pearce ‘23; Emily Paton ‘24; Anaya Patel ‘25; Emily Eisenstadt, Student Activities; Leslie Urban, Physical Plant; Andrea Domingue, Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion; Morgan Kee, College Relations; Raquel Dailey, Betty and B. Frank Matthews II ’49 Center for Career Development; and Beth Adams, Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The team, armed with this responsibility, aims to repurpose the space in a way which fits with Davidson’s values.
While spaces on Patterson Court are primarily utilized by the Greek life organizations that make up Patterson Court Council, the committee hopes to discuss a diverse range of uses. In order to achieve this, the committee has created a campaign on Idea Trek with the guiding principles and values of “access and equity, community and connection, Flexibility, inclusivity, mission-aligned action, intentionality and transparency, and feasibility,” said Anaya Patel ‘25. By collecting ideas from the community, they hope to create a space which can best suit the needs of the student body, faculty, and staff
Patel commented on the difficulties of redesigning the space.
“The biggest challenge so far has been establishing community guidelines that fit the team’s different styles, backgrounds, and values. We ultimately settled on these guiding values and principles: access & equity, community & connection, flexibility, inclusivity, mission-aligned actions, intentionality & transparency, and feasibility. These values will guide how we vote on different ideas and take them through different stages.” Patel was quick to point out, “We’re currently in Stage 1: Idea Intake and, as ideas ripple in, we’ll move to Gate 1: Idea Screen, as so on. This just shows the general process.”
When asked about the history of the house, committee member Emily Paton ‘24 responded: “It was used for the old KA fraternity, which is one of the many fraternities on campus. While they didn’t officially disband, they were told they couldn’t have their house space on campus.”
Furthermore, Paton commented on certain aspects of the process: “I really like how you can comment on other people’s and upvote things. It’s very transparent for the whole community. That’s the whole goal of it. And while I do have my own ideas of what could be helpful, that’s not why I’m here. I want to see what other people are thinking and facilitate their voice in our school’s social community […] There are a lot of groups who don’t have spaces; a lot of groups that aren’t represented properly. The goal of the project is to build a better social community.”
Similarly, Molly Sherrill ‘22 noted incoming challenges. “Once we get ideas […] that’s when it’ll be difficult. However, we haven’t actually had to deal with the logistics of that yet.”
As Davidson’s community starts to give ideas, the committee will have a better idea of what will best help the faculty, students, and staff. The integration of this new committee will benefit the community by allowing for the input of a variety of perspectives on a new campus institution. The committee hopes to effectively translate the community of Davidson’s voice into important decisions made on campus.
Students interested in submitting ideas related to shaping the future of the house to be considered by the committee should visit https://davidson.ideascale.com/c/campaigns/30109/about.
Email:
[email protected]
Address:
Box 7182 Davidson College Davidson, NC 28035
