Groundbreaking for Courtland Benjamin Smith Habitat House

On Saturday, January 23rd DKE held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Courtland Benjamin Smith Habitat House at a construction site in north Chapel Hill. The house will be built to honor the life of our friend and former DKE president, Courtland Smith. The groundbreaking was attended by nearly 150 people including DKE actives, parents and alumni, Courtland’s parents, and Chancellor Holden Thorp and his wife, Patti.

In his moving comments, Courtland’s father, Pharr Smith, recounted how grief counselors often ask families dealing with an untimely loss to glue together a broken pot. Eventually, the loved ones discover that a piece from the pot is missing -- a powerful metaphor for reconstructing their shattered lives. While we will likely never shake the presence of Courtland’s absence, this project will provide all DKEs with a constructive way of coping with the enormous loss we suffered this past August.

We will need lots of Saturday volunteers once construction begins on January 30th. Thanks to contributions from DKE parents and alumni, as well as a $25,000 contribution from Bank of America, we have already raised $64,000 of the $75,000 needed for the project. However, we are now working towards our new goal of raising $100,000 by the time the house is complete in May.

We appreciate all the support you have shown the DKE house over the past semester and hope that many of you will partner with us on this very important project this spring.

Davis Willingham
President
Delta Kappa Epsilon, Beta
dwilling@email.unc.edu
919-971-5999