WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7
Zach Straus/Kansan
Danforth Chapel hosts an average of four weddings every Saturday this summer. In an effort to gain money for renovation, students and alumni are now being charged to use the building.
CHAPEL
Campus church marries current, former students
By Jennifer Wellington
jwellington@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
During the summer, though, the nondenominational chapel comes alive with couples pledging their love with weddings.
Nestled beside the brick and trees of Fraser Hall sits a building filled with tradition and memories. Danforth Hall, dedicated in 1946, has been a significant landmark for many couples and students over the years, but remains largely unused by students during the academic year.
From April to July, Danforth played host to four weddings almost every Saturday the busiest time of the year for the chapel, said Becky Dunavin, who handled reservations for over 125 weddings each year.
The new reservation fee funded student hosts for the chapel and will be used to create a fund for future chapel expenses, said Danny Kaiser, director for CCL.
Dunavin works as the senior administrative assistant for the Center on Campus Life. The CCL has handled the chapel since the 1980s.
Until this past January, the chapel was free to anyone who wanted to reserve the building. Now, students pay $35 and nonstudents pay $75 for their reservation.
Kaiser said because of the current financial state of the University, Facilities Operations that could not clean the chapel between the many weddings on
Saturdays. As a solution, the chapel employs student hosts to clean up after each wedding service.
Because the building is more than 50 years old, Kaiser also wants the reservation fees to help set up a fund for any future repairs in the chapel.
Many of the couples Dunavin speaks with choose the chapel because they either want a small wedding or to relive memories of their time at the University.
"It's a quaint place to get married," she said.
Rev. Rick Clock performs over 10 weddings a year at Danforth.
Alumni who ask him to officiate their weddings choose Danforth because of their fond memories of the University.
For students, Clock said the chapel served as a middle ground for the families of the students.
Weddings aren't the only occasions to fill the chapel with laughter, tears and memories. Christenings and memorial services were also held in the chapel. Religious organizations meet in the chapel and some fraternities and sororities rent it for initiation ceremonies as well.
"If you have a family in Colorado and one in Indiana, the chapel becomes a convenience for the couple," he said.
The chapel is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.for prayer and reflection.
— Edited by Saju Ng'alla