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News
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The
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity will occupy an apartment building in Bryce
Lawn next year while its new house is built, a move that means some Bryce
Lawn residents will not be allowed to renew their leases. The
DKE house, the oldest fraternity house on campus, will be demolished to
make room for a grand entrance way to Bryant-Denny Stadium, which will
include a plaza extending to University Boulevard. A new DKE house will be
built across the street, on the site formerly occupied by the Gorgas Hall
station of the UA Police Department, but the house will not be completed
until fall 2007. Some residents of 511 Bryce Lawn
are upset that they will not be allowed to stay in their apartments next
year. "Why are they being given a
building that belongs to UA?" asked Alesia Pruitt, a senior majoring
in microbiology who lives in 511 Bryce Lawn. Pruitt said she was planning on
living in her apartment next year until she received an e-mail from UA
Housing and Residential Communities notifying her that it will not be an
option. UA and DKE officials decided the
Bryce Lawn building would be the best choice to temporarily house the
fraternity because it will allow members to live together and have a
temporary dining area, said John McNeil, a member of the DKE board of
directors. "It's on campus, and they're
very nice apartments," he said. "That seems like a pretty good
option." Other UA fraternities offered to
donate unused space in their houses for the DKE members, McNeil said, but
these options would not have provided enough living space for all
fraternity members who wish to live in the house. McNeil said DKE will pay the
University rent for all 24 bedrooms in the building, which would total
$125,280 for the year. He said the fraternity will also
construct a temporary, 3,500 square-foot dining hall adjacent to the
building. The hall will allow fraternity members to continue eating three
meals a day together and allow DKE's kitchen staff to remain employed, he
said. "We can't just put them out
on the street," McNeil said. Upton Windes, a sophomore
majoring in international business and a DKE member, said he was
indifferent about the fraternity's temporary location next year. "As long as we have
somewhere to live then I guess it will be alright," he said. HRC spokeswoman Alicia Browne
said residents of 511 Bryce Lawn were notified Monday about the situation. "Based on past experience
with Bryce Lawn, we should be able to accommodate the students who want to
move to another apartment in that same community," Browne said. Pruitt said she does not think
she will be able to find another apartment in Bryce Lawn. Alison Miller, who also lives in
511 Bryce Lawn, said she and others living in the building think 511 was
singled out because of its residents. Other Bryce Lawn buildings house UA
athletes, handicapped students, the Residence Hall Association and the
German House, said Miller, a sophomore majoring in nursing. "Who cares if we're not
athletes, we're still students," she said.